New beginnings
by ShadowVulpix
Summary: The start of a new journey by two friends as they strive to meet up with family. But our new girl and her family hold a secret, one that could change everything at the slightest push in their balance.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hi guys! Welcome to the first story that I will be posting on this new account. Please note that all of these characters, except Ash, are my own creation. I hope that you enjoy and will see you at the bottom!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

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 **Prologue.**

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Hi! I'm Alex, and this will be my story. This will be my story of my Pokemon journey that I took along with my friend, Ash, and my family, Amy, Bella, Leo and my cousin Crystal. All of us have a special little secret, but I'll tell you about that if I, or should I say we, decide that you are trustworthy. Anyway, me and Ash are starting a Pokemon journey tomorrow as the others, including my twin brother Leo, have already started. Amy and Bella are twins too, and started their journey 2 years ago, and Crystal started last year. I waited back 2 months for Ash to start, but I told Leo to go on ahead. I didn't want to delay him, as he was already excited. This story will be told in first person by the way, as it is my story after all. Though maybe the others will write with me from time to time. After all, it would get boring if this was all about me. I guess I'll see you later then, at the actual start of the journey. Bye-bye!

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 **Chapter 1.**

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Alright! Time to begin. I'm going with Ash to get his starter Pokemon, but I won't be picking. I plan on starting with my buddy Spark, the Pikachu I look after. Leo started his journey with Rema, the Rattata he was raising. The girls all picked from Professor Oak, with Bella taking Bulbasaur, Amy had Charmander and Crystal went with Squirtle. I glanced at the clock; Ash was going to be late if he didn't hurry up! After another 10 minutes, I gave up. I went to the 'barn', as we call it, and woke Spark.

"Come on Spark. We need to go and get Ash. I think that he forgot about getting a Pokemon today." Spark nodded, and the cheeky girl jumped onto my shoulder. I glanced at her.

"I'm going to make the assumption that we aren't going to be traveling in your Pokeball, are we?"

She giggled, and shook her head. I sighed.

"Thought not. Now come on, let's go and wake lazy boy over there." I indicated in the direction of Ash's house. Spark smiled, and nodded at me.

 _ **'Okay then. Let's go get 'im.'**_

I facepalmed. "Spark, what did I tell you? Don't reveal to them that I can understand you yet. That was supposed to happen later."

Now it was her turn to facepalm.

 _ **'You're the one writing this. You could have just pretended not to understand me.'**_

"Oh well. Better explain now before we get too far." *turning to readers* "We'll head over to Ash's. I'll explain on the way. Or rather, I'll write about it so you don't suffer through the conversation with Spark involved."

 _ **'Hey!'**_

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Okay. So pretty much, all of us, my cousin, brother and sister's as well as me, can all understand Pokemon. The reason for this is that we all look after Pokemon in our 'barn'. We look after wild Pokemon that are injured and then release them when they are better. We are constantly surrounded by Pokemon. The reason that Spark and Rema are caught by me and Leo, even though we weren't trainers, is because we all have Pokemon that help us. I won't go into detail, but my helper, a shiny Dratini nicknamed Kydyur, accidentally brought over some spare Pokeballs when helping us heal the Pikachu and Rattata that we had found. It seems that the two wanted to stay with us, and they caught themselves. We tried releasing them, but they didn't want to leave. So we let them stay and help us out. I decided to bring Spark instead of Kydyur because although Pikachu are rare, Dratini are considered legendary and a shiny one would attract unwanted attention. She would have to stay in her Pokeball, and she really likes to sit on my shoulder, around my neck. So I went with Spark. But honestly, is it any wonder that we can understand Pokemon? We can also read their, errr, 'language', but barely. It really doesn't make any sense.

 _ **'Hey! I heard that!'**_

"Please be quiet Pixie!" Sorry guys. Pixie is the Vulpix that I own, and she will be working with me to write this story, along with her 'sister' Trixie, who is actually a Zorua. But hopefully you now see why we can understand our Pokemon. Now let's head back to our story, shall we? See you in the next chapter!

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 **Chapter 2.**

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And we're back! Let's get Ash. I knocked on the door and Delia opened it.

"Oh hello Alex! It's good to see you again. All ready for you journey, I presume?"

"Of course Mrs Ketchum." I still feel uncomfortable calling her Delia, even after knowing her for so long. Ash tends to stay with us lots after all.

"Please, I told you to call me Delia! I suppose that you're after Ash?"

"Of course! We are starting a journey after all. Where is he?"

"He's still asleep. He stayed up far too late last night thinking about his starter." Of course. How typical of Ash that he sleeps in. "I couldn't wake him."

I turned to Spark, who was grinning slightly. I could guess what she was thinking.

"You wanna go wake him Spark?"

 ** _'Ok Miss Alex!'_** She scampered upstairs.

A few moments later, I heard a yell.

"OUCH! WHY YOU LITTLE!"

Like a shot, Spark came running down the stairs and lept onto my shoulder. A second later, Ash was down too.

"Get over here you little… oh. Errrr, hi Alex."

"Hello to you too Ashy boy. Late getting up I see."

"What do you mean? Did I agree to come over and help out?"

"Really Ash. Really? You seriously forgot." Ash looked thoughtful for a few minutes. Then he suddenly shouted.

"Oh! We're supposed to get our Pokemon today! Quick, let's go!"

As he ran past, I grabbed his collar. "Ash, don't you think it would be a good idea to get dressed first? You're still in you pajamas."

"Oh yeah, good idea." He rocketed up the stairs.

'Silly headstrong kid.' Spark muttered.

"Spark, don't be too hard on him, he's just angry that he forgot about today." Delia smiled. I looked at her in surprise.

"Did you just answer Spark?"

"I guess I did. I can't understand her, but it was pretty clear what she was talking about."

"Oh ok then. You surprised me for a second."

"I guess that it would. Where's Kydyur anyway? I thought you would journey with her."

"Dratini are considered legendary, so I figured a shiny one would attract too much attention. We don't need that."

"I suppose so. Here comes Ash."

Sure enough, Ash came rocketing down the stairs.

"Ok. I'm ready to go. Now come on, I've already made us late enough."

"Ok Ashy. Let's go."

"Take care you two."

I turned to Delia.

"Don't worry about us. We'll probably run into Leo. He would have waited for us even though I told him to go. We'll be seeing you, Delia."

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"Ash, wait up a second!"

Ash had already ran ahead of me and was waiting at the entrance.

"Just because we're late doesn't mean you need to rocket off!"

"Yes it did. I've already made you late starting your journey, so I don't want to make you any later."

I sweatdropped; Ash could be so naive sometimes.

"Ash, I chose to stay back and wait for you, you didn't make me late at all. Anyway, let's go and start your journey."

So the two of us went inside, ready to go on a journey.

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AN: Ok guys, hope that you all enjoyed that. These first few chapters took me a while to write. Also, I plan on Ash getting Pikachu still, as I want to keep our friend kinda canon, although I really don't like the anime Ash that much. Either way, please leave a rating and review, that way I'll know whether to keep this up. I'll see you next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello again guys! I hope that you enjoyed the last part, and I'm not sure how long ago I posted, as I'm writing a lot at once while I still have ideas. But feel free to leave any suggestions for parts of the story, along with any Pokemon we should catch. I'll meet you guys again at the bottom with a small announcement.**

 **I don't own Pokemon by the way.**

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 **Chapter 3.**

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Okay, we're ready to go. So, it's time for Ash to get his starter. I wonder which he will pick. No matter what, I'm sure he'll do well on this journey. I'll be around to help him, along with Leo, and we have years of experience. Let's focus back on the story, shall we?

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"Professor Oak! I'm here to get my Pokemon!"

Oak turned to face us.

"Ah, hello Ash, Alex. Good to see two. I suppose that you're here to get your pokemon to start your journey, correct?"

I shook my head.

"Nah. I'm starting with my girl Spark here. Isn't that right girl?"

' _ **Yes it is. Glad to be onboard.'**_

Of course, Oak couldn't understand her, but he got the jist.

"Ok then. So it's just Ash. At least I don't have two…" Oak broke off.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"Well because you're so late, I've already given out all of the Pokemon and I don't get any more until next week."

Spark's tail twitched slightly.

"What's wrong bud?" I whispered to her.

' _ **I think that there's another Pikachu here.'**_ She whispered back.

"Professor, surely there's another Pokemon Ash can use?" I asked. If there was another Pikachu here, maybe Ash could start with that.

"Well…" Oak said, hesitating slightly. "There is another, but it's not really for beginners."

"I'll take it!" Ash said, excited.

"Well if you're sure." Oak sighed. He went over to the desk and pulled out another Pokeball. "Here it is." Oak released the Pokemon and it was a Pikachu, just as Spark had thought.

"Wow! Another Pikachu!" Ash said, now even more excited. Spark jumped off of my shoulder.

' _ **Hello.'**_ She said. ' _ **It's nice to see another Pikachu around here.'**_

' _ **Hello to you too.'**_ He replied. ' _ **It's nice to be out of that stupid machine.'**_

' _ **You hate them too huh? My sister Kydyur doesn't like them either.'**_

' _ **Sister? There are two of you? Where is she? Does she belong to that trainer?'**_ He questioned, glancing at Ash.

' _ **No. Kydyur isn't a Pikachu. She's my trainers shiny Dratini, but she won't be travelling with us. She's too rare of a Pokemon and would be in danger.'**_

Ash looked at the two with interest.

"Well, it looks like these two are already getting along fine. Alright Oak, I'll take this one with me."

"Ok then." Oak turned, taking some Pokeballs and two Pokedexs from the table.

"Here are some Pokeballs and a Pokedex. I'm sure that you know what to do with them."

"Of course we do." I said coolly, wanting to get going. "Thanks Professor."

"No problem. It's my job after all."

"Ok, let's get going Ash. Come here Spark."

"Ok. Let's go Pikachu."

' _ **Ok Alex!'**_ Spark said happily, but Pikachu looked annoyed.

' _ **I don't want to travel with him, I want to travel with your human. She seem nice and really smart.'**_

I sighed slightly, and picked up the Pikachu, handing him to Ash.

"Thanks." Ash grinned, and returned his Pikachu to the Pokeball.

"Come on. Let's get moving, we might be able to catch up with Leo if we hurry."

"Sure thing. See you Professor!"

The two of us left and turned out of Pallet.

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 **Chapter 4.**

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As soon as we left the town, Pikachu burst out of his ball. He was fuming.

' _ **Stupid little child. I don't want to be with you, I want to travel with this girl, and I don't want to be in the ball!'**_

Ash looked confused, and looked to me for help. He knew I could understand Pokemon, after all.

"He said that he wants to travel with me, and doesn't want to be in the ball."

"Pikachu, you can't travel with Alex, I need a Pokemon to travel with me."

' _ **Fine, I'll travel with the idiot, but I'm sitting on his shoulder like the other Pikachu does.'**_

"He said that he'll stay with you, but he wants to sit on your shoulder like Spark does."

"Ok then. Come here."

Pikachu jumped up onto his arm and sat on Ash's shoulder.

"Now that we've sorted that out, let's get going, shall we?"

"Ok. You said that Leo's waiting for us?"

"He might be. Knowing him, all the others are waiting for us too."

Ash groaned slightly. "This is going to be a crowded and odd journey."

Pikachu seemed confused.

' _ **What does Alex mean by the others?'**_

Spark chuckled quietly.

' _ **You'll see. Oh, you'll see.'**_

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After this little conversation, the two of us continued forward. However, we didn't get too far before…

A loud cawing came from behind us.

"Uh oh. That better not be…" I glanced behind us. "Nevermind, it is. Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"We should start running."

"Why?"

"There is a flock of angry Spearow and Fearow right behind us and I don't think that it's a good idea to linger."

"Ok then. We should go." Ash burst into a sprint, and I followed close behind. Pikachu was confused by this.

' _ **Spark? Why are we running?'**_

' _ **Basically, around here there is a flock of Fearow. Normally they are quite neutral towards trainers, but someone must have angered them and now they're chasing us.'**_

' _ **Oh great. This better not be any kind of foreboding for the trip.'**_

' _ **Knowing my trainer and her trouble reputation, it probably is.'**_ ***Turns to wink at the readers***

' _ **Ok... Who are you winking at?'**_

' _ **Doesn't matter.'**_

"Guys! Less talking, more zapping please!"

' _ **Ok! Let's see if they like my ThunderShock!'**_

A few Spearow fainted, but the Fearow seemed unfazed.

"That isn't working! I think that… Ash! Watch out!"

One of the Fearows fired a Drill Run at Ash, which luckily missed, sending him blasting away. Pikachu, however, was barely hit by the attack, hurting him badly as it was super effective.

' _ **Pikachu! Quick, Alex, make a detour!'**_

"On it bud!" I ran over, grabbing Pikachu on the way. Suddenly, Ash was beside me, and I passed his Pikachu over. Spark jumped down from my shoulder, and I stopped.

"Spark! What are you doing?"

' _ **I won't let them hurt my friends. Take this!'**_

Spark fired off a few more ThunderShocks, but they barely had any effect. Another Fearow charged at her, using Peck. Without thinking, I grabbed Spark and held her close.

"Alex!" I heard Ash yell. In my bag, a faded pink light shone out, and a force field surrounded us. I had a brainwave.

"Spark! Use Thunder Shock on this shield!"

' _ **Ok Miss!'**_

Just as I had hoped, the pink shield became electrified, and another few attacks landed on it, which shocked the Pokemon and knocked them out. This seemed to scare off the rest of the flock. I slowly stood up, and the shield disapperated. Ash came running over.

"Alex! You're ok!"

"Yeah." I answered back. "I'm fine."

"Good." Ash seemed relieved. "What was that shield thing?"

"I have no clue. Let's take a look." I crouched down and opened my backpack. A small case became obvious. I opened it up to find around a dozen small amulets inside. I broke into a smile.

"Of course. Bella…"

"What do you mean Bella? What does your sister have to do with this?"

"All of us have our helpers. Bella's is a Gardevoir, and as you know, Bel is pretty overprotective. So I'm assuming that Bel's Gardevoir must have made these to keep me safe. Typical of her."

"Well it's lucky that she did, otherwise those Fearow would have seriously hurt you."

"Yeah. Good foresight on her part." Unless it was… nevermind.

"Well then. We need to get Pikachu to a Pokemon Centre, and fast."

"Ok. Let's go."

We ran off.

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 **AN: Ok guys, we are done with this chapter of the story. Now, that little announcement. I won't be doing anything in the AN's unless I have something important to say. So if I need to tell you something, I'll do it in the AN's. Otherwise, there won't be anything special. Other than that, please review and I'll see you all next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello again guys. Good to see you again. I have something to mention today, so I'll see you at the bottom. Enjoy the story!**

 **I don't own Pokemon. At all.**

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 **Chapter 5.**

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So as you guys may remember from last time, we managed to get into a little bit of trouble with that flock of Fearow. We left off heading towards Viridian City, so we could get our Pokemon healed after that ordeal. Well now Viridian is in sight, and I have a feeling that we may be running into an old friend of ours soon.

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"Look Ash! We're here. Finally."

"I know. It took long enough. Now let's get to the Pokemon Centre."

"Ok. Follow me." I started walking towards the Centre, as I could see it from here. Ash followed behind me, and I pushed open the door. We walked over to Nurse Joy and I quickly explained what had happened. We handed over our Pikachu's and then went to sit down. Ash and me quickly discussed what happened.

"That must have been a really rare Fearow then. Drill Run..." I nodded.

"Most Fearow don't learn that move until they're really high leveled. That must have been a super powerful Fearow."

"I guess so. I would love to catch that."

"I don't think that would be possible." I stood. "I'm going to see if I can call my brother."

"Ok. I'll get you when our Pokemon are ok."

I nodded, and walked outside.

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"Hello Alex. Nice to talk to you again. How's thing's?"

"Hi little bro. Things are going fine thanks. We started our journey earlier."

"First, I'm like, 20 minutes younger than you. Second, I forgot about that. Where are you guys now? And what did Ash start with?"

"Ash started with another Pikachu, and we're currently at Viridian City. Where're you?"

"I'm at Cerulean City. If you want, I can meet you guys over in Pewter City and we can continue on from there."

"Errr." I thought for a second. If Leo was so far ahead, should I call him back so he can continue with us? Spark would be happy, and I suppose that Pikachu could benefit also. "Yeah, I guess that could be fun. We'll be getting going in a little while, but we shouldn't take too long to get there. I'll see you in a few days. Maybe you can get back to see out gym battles."

"Sure. That sounds great. I'll see if I can get there in time. I'll see you there then?"

"Of course. See you later, little bro." And I hung up.

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' _ **Alex! Ash said that you were calling Master Leo! What did he say? Is he going to be joining us?'**_ I laughed.

"Yes Spark, Leo is going to be joining up with us. We're meeting in Pewter City. He's going to try and get there in time to see our gym battles." Ash was listening too.

"Great! It'll be nice to see your brother again. Maybe we'll be able to meet up with the rest of your folks and have a giant tournament style battle."

"Yeah, because that'll go well. Those guys probably have like, 3 badges by now. Leo has 1 at least, and we still need to get that." Ash sweatdropped.

"I guess so. Well, we may as well get moving. We need to get there before Leo does."

I smiled, then started off, beckoning for them to follow.

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 **Chapter 6.**

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Ash groaned slightly.

"Alex, are you sure that we're going the right way? We've been lost in here forever!"

"Ash, it's been…" I checked my watch. "2 hours. Stop moaning. And we aren't lost, we just went slightly off course. Anyway, shouldn't you be happy? We can go and get a few new Pokemon. Although, none of the Pokemon around here are going to be much help against a rock type."

"I suppose that you're right. Let's split up and try to catch some team members. We'll need them for the battle anyway. It's a 2 on 2 right? So we have to get some more."

"Ok. Meet you back here in a little while."

So the two of us split up after I reminded Ash to use his Pokedex.

Ok. Let's see what kind of Pokemon we can find. Maybe we can get something we can use.

' _ **Miss Alex. I think that there's a Pokemon in that bush.'**_ Spark whispered, motioning towards a bush on the side of a clearing. I nodded, and motioned for her to get ready. A Caterpie waked out.

"Ok Spark, hit it with a ThunderShock." I told her, motioning towards it. She obeyed, and the Caterpie was shocked. She used Tackle, and Spark managed to dodge it. It was a good idea to use those couple of months to give Spark some speed training before we came out.

"Ok. Go Pokeball!" I threw the ball and after rocking a few times, it clicked. Spark went over and picked it up. She brought it to me.

' _ **Nice job Miss Alex! You did really well.'**_ I just smiled.

"Thanks Spark, but you were the one who did all the work." She smiled up at me as I took the ball and put it on my belt. I was alerted to something moving from a bush right behind Spark. "Get ready girl, I think that we have another battle."

Spark's cheeks crackled with electricity as she turned around, looking ready to fry something. A Rattata walked out, muttering about something and clearly agitated.

' _ **Missing for months… yet Pidgey said she was here… better not have done something stupid…'**_ I exchanged a quizzical glance with Spark. A missing Pokemon? That doesn't sound good. I motioned to Spark to go and talk to it. I didn't want to startle it. She ran over.

' _ **Hi. I heard you talking about a lost Pokemon. What happened? Maybe I can help you find them.'**_ The Rattata paused in its muttering and looked at Spark.

' _ **Ok. How will you help?'**_ He paused again and looked closely at Spark. ' _ **You look familiar…'**_ Spark was confused by that statement, but disregarded it.

' _ **Come here. My trainer can help.'**_ She started over towards me, beckoning for him to follow. I smiled when they got close and crouched down.

"Hey bud. What's wrong? I'll see if I can help you. Tell me what went on." He looked sceptical for a moment, but told me his story.

' _ **My family and myself were out on Route 1 when we ran into this Pikachu. They aren't normally found around here, and she asked to join us. Later, we were attacked by a flock of Spearow. There wasn't many of them, but our parents weren't with us, so we couldn't defend ourselves. But the Pikachu stepped up and tried to help us. My sister came beside her and started to battle. She told us all to run, so we ran back home and got our parents. They came back with us, but when we got back, we saw that they were gone. A boy was running back to the town next to us. We assumed that he had taken them both, but we couldn't find them when we went there to save them. We've been searching for them ever since.'**_ I raised my eyebrows at Spark. My brother had found these two, so maybe… I still had one more question to confirm my suspicions.

"When did this happen? How long ago, I mean."

' _ **Around 8 months ago.'**_ That confirms it. I smiled.

"Well, you're in luck. I know exactly where your sister is." He perked up.

' _ **Really? Where?'**_

"She was caught by my brother around that time. He found her and my Pikachu Spark here," I gestured towards her. "On Route 1 at that point. We weren't trainers at the time, but we had a few Pokemon. The two of them caught themselves."

' _ **Can I journey with you? I might be able to see my sister then.'**_

"Sure. We're meeting in Pewter City anyway. Would you like to go and tell your family so that they don't get worried about you? We can wait for a little while or meet you in Pewter."

' _ **Really? You'd do that?'**_ He seemed so excited. ' _ **I didn't think that trainers were this kind. I'll go tell them. I'll be back as soon as I can.'**_ And he ran off towards Route 1. Spark looked at me in amazement.

' _ **Wow. You were really nice to that poor Rattata. I didn't think trainers did that, especially to wild Pokemon.'**_

"Really? You've lived with me for months, and helped me heal dozens of wild Pokemon before letting them go, and you now realise this?" I smiled, then said, "Come on. Let's get back to Ash." She jumped back onto my shoulder and we headed back.

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 **AN: Hello guys. Hope you're enjoying the story so far. Now, about that announcement. Basically, I'm writing all these up on paper first before I upload them, so I have tons of chapters stored up and ready to go. So most suggestions will be taken in, but a lot of the story may already be written, so please bear in mind that as long as I have ideas, I will keep writing. But I hope that you all enjoy, I'm running out of ideas so I'll probably stop after this, so goodbye everybody!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello again guys, I'm back at writing with a few more ideas. At the bottom I need to talk to you, so I'll see you there! I don't own Pokemon by the way.**

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 **Chapter 7.**

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The two of us headed back to where Ash had split up from us. He was already there, and looked quite annoyed. That doesn't seem good. I hurried over.

"Ash! What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that this little nightmare," He said, pointing at Pikachu. "Was being disobedient and not battling. I _did_ manage to catch a Pidgeotto, but only just." I heard Spark make a tiny groan, then she whispered in my ear.

' _ **Can I go and talk to him? I might be able to help.'**_ I nodded, and she hopped off my shoulder and went to talk to Pikachu.

' _ **What's wrong little bro?'**_

' _ **That silly boy has no clue… wait, little bro?'**_

' _ **Well, you are like my younger sibling, so why not? But what's bugging you?'**_

' _ **That kid doesn't know what he's doing. He's so inexperienced, and Alex seems to know what she's doing.'**_ Spark sweatdropped.

' _ **Of course Alex knows what she's doing. She's been looking after and raising Pokemon for years, and has a brother, two sisters and a cousin that are all experienced trainers and can help her out. But Ash only has us and her, and has only helped at the barn a few times over the years. He's a complete beginner, and Alex has been doing this for years. So cut him some slack, ok?**_ Pikachu sighed.

' _ **I guess you're right. Hey, why don't me and you have a battle? I think it'd be fun and a good way to test ourselves.'**_ Ash glanced at me for a translation, and I quickly summarized it. He nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea. Let's do it, shall we?" I smiled.

"Of course. Spark, you're up!"

"Pikachu, let's show them!"

' _ **Ready to go!'**_ The two chorused.

"Pikachu, start this with Quick Attack!"

"Wait for it, Spark." I said calmly, until Pikachu was about to hit. "Now, dodge and use ThunderShock." I knew it wasn't very effective, but I had a plan forming. She connected, and Pikachu was slightly hurt and got a small power boost from it. Ash laughed.

"Thanks for the boost! Pikachu, use your own Thunder Shock!" I grinned.

"Spark, use your tail as a lightning rod and absorb the shock!" She did this, and her cheeks crackled with electricity. "Now, use that electricity to hit back harder. Quick Attack with Thunder Shock!" Spark went flying towards Pikachu, then used her Thunder Shock to cloak herself in lightning. She slammed into Pikachu and sent him flying. Ash looked shocked, while Pikachu was literally shocked.

"What was that!?" Ash yelped. I grinned.

"It was basically a fake version of Volt Tackle, the signature move of the Pikachu line. It's pretty powerful, but also is hard to learn and has recoil. This is weaker, but is easier to use. You just have to teach the Pokemon right." Ash sweatdropped.

"I guess I should have expected something like that from you. Well, I would say," He glanced at Pikachu. "I'd say that we lost." He walked over to pick up Pikachu.

"Spark, come on back." She ran over and jumped onto my shoulder. "Good try though. You did pretty well for a first battle." Suddenly, a Rattata ran up to us.

' _ **Well done Spark, you did really well.'**_ He said, then turned to me. ' _ **I told them, and they were really happy for me. So, is it time to go?'**_ I smiled, this Rattata was just like his sister.

"Yes little friend, it's time to go. We'll be meeting up with my brother in the next city, Pewter. Now," I said, pulling out a Pokeball. "Time for me to catch you so that you can come with me." He nodded, and let me tap him on the head. Ash came over.

"What was that about?" I quickly explained, and he nodded.

"Ok. Let's get going to Pewter then. I'm sure he'll be excited to see his sister again. And Pikachu needs to go to the Pokemon Centre. Leo will probably meet us there." I turned and headed towards the forest, beckoning for Ash to follow.

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 **Chapter 8.**

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"Finally! That took ages!" Ash moaned.

"20 minutes, Ash, 20 minutes since our battle. Now stop moaning, we need to go to the Centre. Follow me." I walked off towards the Centre, Ash following behind, mumbling something about not being a little kid. I smiled slightly, careful to hide it from Ash. He didn't need to know that I heard him.

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We headed towards the Pokemon Centre, while I glanced around for Leo. I couldn't see him anywhere, so I just focused on getting our Pikachu's healed. They were quite damaged after the battle, but Spark was holding up better than Pikachu, probably because he had been on the receiving end of my special combination move. I need to remember to teach Ash and Pikachu how to do that, as it can be quite useful in close situations, especially against other electric Pokemon. I went over to the counter and left Spark there, Ash following suit. I went to sit over in the waiting area, and Ash sat next to me. I turned.

"Ash, how about after these two are healed, I show you how to do that mock Volt Tackle?"

"Yeah. That sounds useful. It could be a helpful strategy against other Pokemon."

"A great thing about it is that you don't need any help. You can supercharge Pikachu yourself, if you're careful that is."

"Really? How?"

"I'll show you that when we get round to it. After all, it's easier to show you rather than tell you." After this, Ash fell silent, probably thinking about the power that the combo move had, even as a mock attack. A few minutes later, the machine dinged and we went over to collect our Pokemon. The two Pikachu's jumped onto our shoulders, and we headed out, back towards the forest. Ash seemed a bit confused as to why we were heading back, and said so.

"Well, it's because we can test out the Thunder Shock Quick Attack combo without too many problems." By 'problems', I meant random trainers who wanted to see what we were doing. "I don't want any distractions while I teach you this." I heard a chuckle from behind us, and then a voice.

"Of course you don't. You never liked an audience, especially when there is a possibility of failure." I turned, and was surprised to see…

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 **AN: Haha, cliffhanger! Sorry to make you guys wait to meet our mystery person, but this chapter was already getting long enough, so you have to wait until next week! Or month… or year… just joking guys, I won't make you wait that long. Just a little while longer. Also, do you guys have any suggestions for Pokemon teams? I have them written down, but I can easily add more Pokemon if I need to. I could also do with nickname suggestions for the teams. Lastly, I might be breaking the four move rule, as I always thought it was quite stupid to have a move cap. Other than that, I'm done for the day, so bye guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hello guys, we are back for more of New beginnings! Hope that you're all enjoying this story, and are ready to break the cliffhanger! You might have an idea as to who it was, but let's find out now! Also, you may have noticed that it says Pokemon/Digimon. Yeah, it's not. I couldn't chose just Pokemon, so that's the reason. Still don't own Pokemon, by the way.**

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 **Chapter 9.**

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… my little brother Leo standing there.

"Leo!" I shrieked, running over to hug him. "It's so great to see you!"

"Hello Leo." Ash said cooly. He didn't seem too bothered by my brother's unexpected arrival, but he didn't really know Leo or the others that well. But either way, he seemed happy enough that we had another traveling partner to come along with us.

"Hey sis." Leo smiled. "I see that you're doing well."

' _ **Hey! What about me?'**_ Leo laughed.

"Hello to you too Spark. How are you doing?"

' _ **I'm fine thanks. Can you bring out Rema please? I want to talk to her.'**_

"I will later. First, you guys have some work to do, don't you?" Leo replied, looking at me.

"Of course we do. But Spark isn't the only one who want's to see Rema. First, we need to show Ash how to do that combination move from earlier. Ready for that?"

' _ **Ok Alex!'**_ Spark smiled, bouncing off my shoulder and getting ready to go. I turned to Ash.

"Ready to go?"

"Obviously." Ash said, excited.

"Right. Let's start with charging from another Pokemon's attack. We can move on from there. First, Pikachu needs to use his tail as a lightning rod to block the attack. Spark, go ahead."

' _ **Right!'**_ She cheered, and shot a Thunder Shock at Pikachu. He caught it with his tail, and was charged from it, though not much. I nodded.

"Good. Now, use Quick Attack on the rock over there, then use Thunder Shock to cover yourself with electricity."

"Ok. Go for it Pikachu!" Ash shouted.

' _ **Alright.'**_ He said, and charged at the rock. He used Thunder Shock, but didn't manage to catch it and ended up just using Thunder Shock on the rock, then hitting it. He seemed disappointed.

"Don't worry you two. That's the harder part of the combo. Maybe we should try later." Ash nodded despondently. Leo then sent out Rema, and Spark went over to greet her. I smiled, and sent out Joey. He walked over to Rema.

' _ **Hey sis. How are you?'**_ Rema looked surprised, then recognised him.

' _ **Little brother! It's great to see you! I didn't know that you were caught, and by Miss Alex too!'**_

' _ **She was the one who told me that you were travelling with her brother, so I came with her. Our parent's were so happy to know that you were ok.'**_

' _ **Great!'**_ Rema smiled, then noticed Pikachu in the back. ' _ **Hey, who's that?'**_ Spark turned, and noticed her 'little bro' sulking in the back, not wanting to intrude.

' _ **Oh, that's Ash's Pikachu.'**_ She smiled, then pulled him over. ' _ **Come on, come meet Rema.'**_ Pikachu struggled slightly.

' _ **I don't want to interrupt.'**_

' _ **You won't be interrupting anything. Now come on, meet my sister. Unless you want to continue with our training session.'**_

' _ **Yeah, I would like to keep going. Can we please?'**_

' _ **Nope. Now come on. She needs to meet you.'**_

Me and Leo laughed. Spark went about introducing Pikachu to Rema, and the little group started talking. I glanced at Leo and went over to them.

"Hey, sorry to break this up, but we need to keep training."

' _ **Ok Alex!'**_ The two Pikachu chorused, and they went back to their positions. Joey and Rema lingered, then Rema said, ' _ **Alex, do you mind if I have a battle against my brother please? I think it would be useful for us both.'**_

"Of course." I smiled, and turned to Leo. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not. Let's go."

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The two of us faced each other, ready for battle. Ash and Pikachu were sitting at the side, watching to pick up some battling tips.

"Ready to go, bro?" I smirked.

"Ok. You go first."

"Right. Joey, use Quick Attack."

"Rema, Bite it. Don't let him escape!"

"Dodge it, use another Quick Attack! Try and keep ahead of her!"

"Use Quick Attack to catch up, then Pursuit!"

"Tackle it! Make sure to avoid it's fangs!"

We continued with the battle, though it was mostly Joey running from Rema and trying to land a few hits. After a while, we managed to tire them out a little, and could get more distance between the two, and sometimes land an attack or two. But this was tiring Joey much more, being a much lower level. Suddenly, Rema hit Joey with a Tackle, and he was almost knocked out.

"Alright Rema, use Quick Attack to knock him out!" However, Rema didn't move. "Rema?" Rema walked over to Joey and helped him up.

"I think she feels guilty about hurting her brother. Is that right Rema?" She nodded.

"Ok. Rema, come on back." Leo said, returning her to the Pokeball.

"You too Joey." I said. I turned to Leo. "I guess I need to train more. Especially with the upcoming gym to beat." He nodded.

"Yeah, you really do. Now back to helping Ash with his combo move." We turned, and Ash got ready to try again. And again. And again. And again. And… well, you get the idea. We failed a lot.

After around two hours and a bit of damage caused, the two of them finally got the hang of it. At least with someone else charging.

"Great job Ash! Want to try the next level?"

"Yeah, sure. That's self charging, right?"

"Yeah. Let's go heal first."

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 **Chapter 10.**

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After around four more hours of hitting himself and the rock repeatedly, Pikachu finally got the hang of the combo move. Ash seemed really pleased.

"Nice job Pikachu. You've done really well."

"What's really great about this move is that you can still deal damage with the Quick Attack against ground types, which should be useful against Brock."

"Yep. Although with your current team, it's going to be a very hard battle for both of you. Electric is weak to ground, and bug and flying are weak to rock. Normal isn't very effective either, so you so teach these some ground or steel moves. If you want, I can help teach your Pokemon a few moves to help." Leo commented. "Unless you'd rather do it yourself?" I glanced at Ash. As much as I want to do as much as I can alone, we could do with the extra help. Ash nodded slightly, so I said,

"Sure. That could be useful. What will we be learning then?"

"Come with me into the forest. I can show you guys there."

Ash looked quizzical for a moment, but followed Leo and me into the forest. We went and found a clearing and Leo released his own Pidgeotto. He turned to us.

"Now, lets begin."

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 **AN: Ok guys, you've finally met one of Alex's family members, Leo! You should be meeting with the girls soon enough. Maybe sooner than Alex would like… Could this also mean that their secret will be revealed? Maybe, maybe not. It will depend on whether or not the others trust you. Alex does, Leo might, but it all depends… See you next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Training time for the teams today! And possibly the gym too! This sounds like fun, doesn't it? *A voice can be heard from off to the side***

 **Yeah, yeah, fun, whatever. You never do anything fun. You just sit around all day writing, and it's not even the right story.**

 **SV: Be quiet Trixie, I'm trying to write over here. Sorry guys, that's Trixie. I think you met her sister Pixie in chapter 1, back at the beginning. These two will be helping me with the story. Also, I fixed the Pokemon/Digimon thing. Either way, let's get going. See you later!**

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 **Chapter 11.**

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** "Ok Zephyr, use Steel Wing on that rock!" Leo commanded. Zephyr, Leo's Pidgeotto, flew at the rock, cutting it with his wing. Leo was teaching Skye, Ash's Pidgeotto, how to use Steel Wing to give it a slight advantage over rock types, despite her weakness to that type. Meanwhile, the two Pikachu's and Joey were learning Iron Tail from Rema for a super effective move. I guess we got lucky with the fact that Leo has such good movesets for us to deal with the gym. Myself and Ash were sitting on some tree stumps, reviewing the type chart that I had made and looking to make a strategy to use in the gym. We had refused Leo's help on what Brock's team was, as we wanted to be slightly independant. So now we were looking over all possible Pokemon Brock could have, and how to deal with them.

"Right. So we have Geodude, Onix, Rhyhorn, Omanyte, Kabuto and Aerodactyl. I don't think he will have any of the fossil Pokemon, except maybe Kabuto, or Rhyhorn as they're really rare. So it's most likely for him to have Onix and Geodude, so that's what we should prepare for."

"Yeah. Both of those are really weak to steel, right?" I nodded. "So Steel Wing and Iron Tail will be useful."

"If he does have a Kabuto, then our mock Volt Tackle should do the trick. Have you got the hang of charging yourself yet?"

"Kind of. It doesn't charge very well, but it works. We should be able to deal with something quite well." I nodded again.

"That'll have to do. Unless you want to practise some more after this?"

"I think that could be helpful, but you should ask Pikachu. It's his training after all."

"I guess so." I turned and called over Pikachu. "Pikachu, come here!" He paused in his training and ran over. "Would you like to try self charging after we finish with this training?" He thought about this for a second.

' _ **I think that could be quite useful, but it would take forever to get it right because I'm so weak and bad at it.'**_ I started.

"What do you mean weak? Who told you that?" In the corner of my eye, I saw Leo listening in on the conversation, and noticed a spark in his eye. Keep your cool Leo, keep your cool.

' _ **No one's told me that. It's just that, in comparison to Spark, I'm so weak and slow. I'm not as powerful as her, but we've be journeying together.'**_ I gave a slight sigh.

"Well, obviously Spark is stronger. I _did_ spend two extra months training her. And she was a pretty strong Pokemon to begin with." Ash looked at me, surprised. I rolled my eyes. "You really didn't think I'd train, did you?" The look he gave me proved that. "Nevermind. Pikachu, want to train later or not?"

' _ **I really want to, but I don't have that much energy left. So I'll have to pass you up on that.'**_

"It's ok, no problem. We can do it tomorrow. We might be delayed a day or two with taking on the gym, but that isn't a problem. Right Ash?"

"Nah, it's nothing. I'd rather you be ready than have you get defeated."

' _ **Ok…'**_ Pikachu sighed, then ran back to the others. I looked at Leo, and saw that he had deflated. Good, we don't need… it doesn't matter.

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 **Chapter 12.**

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Around twelve that night, I stepped out of my room in the centre. I wanted to go for a walk, but I didn't want to disturb the Pikachu's. Ash's Pikachu was sleeping in my room, and I think that is because he still didn't like Ash that much still, or maybe he just liked me more than Ash. Or he could have a crush on Spark. Nah, probably not, though I had seen him blushing at her. Whatever, I just wanted out. I felt kinda trapped. So I just left. I went out walking towards the forest. Probably a bad idea without any Pokemon, but hey, I like to live dangerously. Either way, I walked over to the forest, and after glancing around, entered.

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Yeah, no. This was definitely a bad idea. One gigantic Beedrill horde, that for some odd reason is extremely angry, and no Pokemon to defend me. Definitely a dumb move on my part. Well, I'm an idiot. Time to run now. I turned and ran towards the exit, hoping to outrun them. Two yellow blurs passed me, but I didn't really notice them until a Thunder Shock fried the Beedrill swarm behind me. I turned again to face them, and saw both Spark and Pikachu standing there.

"What are you guys doing here? Did I wake you?" Spark snorted.

' _ **You wish. You seemed a little annoyed before we went to sleep, and I know you too well not to have learned the signs. Back in Pallet though, you were safe from wild Pokemon, so it wasn't too bad.'**_

"Ok. Why's Pikachu here?" He answered this time.

' _ **Spark accidentally woke me when she got up, so I followed along to help out. In hindsight, that was probably a good idea… you're an idiot, you know that right?'**_

"Yeah, I have come to realise that over the years. But how are you going to help? There's way too many of them." The two looked at each other, then Spark used a Thunder Shock up into the air, and caught it with her tail. Pikachu followed suit, and both became charged. They rocketed towards the horde and used our combo move to hit them. I was surprised at Pikachu's power in the attack.

"Nice job guys!" But it still wasn't enough. "Keep going!" Suddenly, Pikachu sent up a Thunder Shock too high, and it caused a lightning bolt to strike him. I was worried for a second, as Spark had been hit too and I didn't want either of them to get hurt. But I saw that the two were up and seemed fine, and charged towards the horde. They both used Thunder Shock again, but it seemed to rival the power of a Thunderbolt. The two became supercharged, and knocked out most of the Beedrill. One more combo from Pikachu and they had all been defeated. I ran over.

"Thanks guys. I would have been in huge trouble if you hadn't come along." I then addressed Pikachu. "That was really powerful, and you controlled it well too. Did you mean to summon lightning?"

' _ **Nope, but it worked great. Are you coming back now?'**_

"Yeah, I'm coming. I've learned my lesson about these random explorations that I do. Thanks again you two." So the two of them hopped onto my shoulders and we walked back.

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 **AN: Well, we didn't get the gym done, but I promise I'll do it next time.**

 **T: Yeah, yeah, keep that promise please, I'm getting quite bored. Anyway, I want to meet those others so we can get a reveal on this secret you keep hinting at. Then again, I** _ **could**_ **just steal the pages and read it myself.**

 **SV: Don't you dare Trix, I don't trust you not to spill next AN. Whatever, I'll move them later. See you!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hi guys, I'm back! I moved all of the files so Trix can't get them, and Pixie is here today!**

 **P: Yup. Sorry about the spoiler possibility. I'll try and keep my sis from doing that though. Shadow has her own release planned already. Also, the files aren't the actual story all written out, it's just a plan. I read it before, but loads get changed and things get edited.**

 **SV: Pix, when did you read these?**

 **P: Ages ago. Don't worry, I won't spoil anything. I'm not like Trix.**

 **SV: If you say so... Anyway, let's get on with the story! I don't own Pokemon by the way.**

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 **Chapter 13.**

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We walked back in, lucky that no one had missed us. We went back to the room, and went back to sleep. Before that, I silently swore that I would never by doing that again. That had been too close of a call.

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"Alex! Get up!" Ash charged into my room and shook me awake. I looked at him.

"Hi Ash. What's wrong?"

"We've got training to do, remember? We have to help with Pikachu's mock Volt Tackle move."

"Huh? Oh, that's not a problem. He's got it in the bag. Come on, let's go to the gym."

"What do you mean, it's not a problem? We said we were going to help Pikachu train in the power and control."

"It's fine. He's got it. Now, do you want to battle first or shall I?" Ash decided to just leave it and thought for a second.

"I'll go first please." I nodded, and we walked towards the gym, Pikachu's on our shoulders and Leo following behind.

"You two sure about this? Brock will be a hard fight, even with the new attacks."

"We'll be fine Leo. Stop worrying so much. I know that you need to get your second or third badge, but we'll be there soon enough. Calm down."

"Ok, ok. When do you think we'll meet up with the girls?"

"No clue. I wouldn't be surprised if they had all the badges already. But I guess we'll see. Now come on, Ash has left us behind." We ran to catch up.

"Ready Ash?" He looked at us, a determined glint in his eye.

"Let's do this." So we walked in.

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"Hello challengers!" Brock said. Quickly, we explained our battle set and he nodded. "Let's get this battle started." Ash and Brock walked over to the field, and Leo and I went to the stands.

"Go Geodude!"

"Skye, I choose you!" Brock laughed.

"A flying type on a rock type? This should be easy. Geodude, Tackle!"

"Skye, dodge and use Sand Attack!" Skye flew up high to dodge, then landed in order to use Sand Attack.

"Now, use Tackle while it's on the ground!" Geodude charged blindly at Skye, who took off again, causing it to miss.

"Great! Now,use Gust to knock up some more sand!" Ash kept using the same idea for a few minutes,even after taking a few hits, then changed tactics.

"Alright, use Steel Wing!" Skye dive bombed the Geodude, slashing it with her wings. This sent the Geodude flying into the wall, knocking it out.

"Geodude, return!" Brock looked at Ash. "You came prepared, huh? Well, meet my second Pokemon. Kabuto, let's go!"

"A Kabuto,huh? Well, we know how to deal with you. Skye, Gust! Send it flying!"

"Kabuto, watch out!" The command was too late, however, and Kabuto got blown up.

"Now, Quick Attack!"

"Kabuto, use Scratch when it gets close!" Skye was already weakened from the Geodude, and fainted.

"Skye, return. Pikachu, let's go!"

' _ **Ready to roll, Ash!'**_ He cheered as he ran onto the field.

"A Pikachu? Well, I hope that you're still prepared with this one. Kabuto, Mud Shot!"

"Pikachu, keep out of the way! Quick Attack!" He started using the attack to run around the field, making it impossible for Kabuto to catch him. Ash grinned. "Now Thunder Shock, upwards!"

"What do you want to accomplish with this? Kabuto doesn't fly, you know."

"I had noticed. Pikachu, catch it!" Pikachu jumped and grabbed the bolt on his tail. "Now, Quick Attack at the Kabuto!" By this time, Brock knew there was something up.

"Kabuto, watch out!"

"Thunder Shock! Keep it controlled!" Before Brock could react, Pikachu had clocked himself in electricity, and was running right at Kabuto. It scored a direct hit, and because of his slight weakness, knocked it out.

"Kabuto, return." Brock sighed. "Good job kid, I see that you've been training your Pokemon well. Here, the Boulder Badge. Now, is your friend going next?"

"Of course." I said, coming down from the stands. "If your Pokemon are ready for another round, that is." Brock nodded, and we took our spots. Let's go.

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 **Chapter 14.**

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"Geodude, let's rock!"

"Joey, time to go." He glanced around, then looked back worriedly.

' _ **Are you sure about this Alex? I'm not very strong.'**_

"You'll be fine, Joey. Now, let's start this with a Quick Attack."

"Tackle it Geodude."

"Pursuit, then Focus Energy. Then combo Quick Attack with Bite."

' _ **Yes Miss!'**_ Joey shouted back, then followed my instructions. The Geodude was hit for massive damage, and almost went down straight away.

"That's one powerful Rattata you have there. Now, take a Tackle!"

"Wait for it Joe." I said. Then, right as it got close, "Now, use Quick Attack to get behind it!" Geodude started turning, but that wouldn't work. "Let's finish this. Iron Tail!"

' _ **Take this!'**_ The Geodude was weak to Steel, and was knocked out.

"Geodude, return. You have some seriously powerful Pokemon."

"Thanks. You shouldn't take it for granted that they could be weak because they're common."

"Right. Onix, you're up!" Joey looked petrified.

"Joey, return. Spark, your turn!"

' _ **Ready to roll, Miss!'**_

"Onix, use Rock Tomb!"

"Spark, Quick Attack! Get behind it."

"Onix, Bind!"

"Right into my trap. Iron Tail and Thunder Shock!"

"Onix, let it go!" Too late. Spark had charged his Iron Tail attack and slammed it into Onix, causing it a lot of pain, but it didn't knock it out.

"Now, combo time. Catch the lightning and go!"

"Onix, watch out! Try and use Rock Throw to block it!"

"Not going to work. Even though Onix is immune to electric attacks, this still boosts the power of Quick Attack. Go Spark!"

' _ **Knocked out already Alex! Take this!'**_

The Onix fainted, and the battle was already over.

"Onix, return. Good job kid. You have some powerful Pokemon there."

"Well, Spark is always the training instructor, so I guess I had a little help with the training."

"Either way, here's your Boulder Badge. I presume that you're heading to Cerulean City, right?"

"Yes. All of us need the badge from there."

"Well, you have a good advantage over the Water gym."

"Easily. Goodbye Brock."

The three of us walked out of the gym.

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Well, it looks like we're off to Mount Moon. Maybe we can get a Clefairy there. They are so cute, and would be quite useful. Actually, I need to train Jade.

"Hey guys, can we stop for a while? I need to give Jade some training."

"Sure." Leo replied. "I want to do some training too. Let's go."

"I'll meet you all back here later, ok?" The boys nodded. "See you later."

We split up, ready to train.

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** **AN: Ok guys, I have to finish here, the chapter's getting long. So I'm gonna postpone the training until next time. Also, sorry for giving Brock so little time right now, but don't you worry, he'll be back.**

 **P: That sounds fun. When will the girls get here? I really want to see them.**

 **SV: They'll be here soon, don't worry. Sadly, so will Brock…**

 **P: Yeah, sorry readers, Shadow isn't a fan of Brock.**

 **SV: I don't like Misty much either, or Cilan from Unova. I'm ok with the rest. Anyway, I'll see all of you next time!**

 **P: Byebye!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Guys, Trixie is hunting me for moving the files. I think that she's angry that I won't let her read them. Pix is trying to calm her down, so I'll talk more at the bottom. And I still don't own Pokemon, never will.**

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 **Chapter 15.**

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"Jade, come out." She glanced around, confused.

' _ **Where are we?'**_

"Just outside Mount Moon. We're going to be doing some training."

' _ **That sounds fun. Maybe I could evolve! I always wanted to be a Butterfree.'**_

"Well that's settled then. We'll train for about an hour, then we have to head back to the boys. Let's get started." So we kept training on the Pokemon around the area, and Jade did evolve into a Butterfree. She seemed very happy about this, and fluttered around me carefree.

' _ **This is fun. Thanks for helping me Alex.'**_

"No problem bud. Now let's get heading back, the boys will be waiting for us." I brought Jade back into her Pokeball, and Spark hopped back onto my shoulder. She had been helping me train Jade when she was weaker and couldn't fight well. As we turned to go, however, a boy ran up to me.

"Hey miss, were you just in Pewter?"

"Yeah, I just came from there. Why?"

"So you didn't hear the rumor? Apparently a strangely coloured Dratini had been spotted around there. I'm going to see if I can catch it." My blood ran cold at this.

"Well, good luck. Dratini are extremely hard to catch. My sister tried to get one and couldn't, but good luck all the same."

"Ok. See you miss!" As he ran off, I exchanged a worried glance with Spark.

' _ **Do you think he meant Kydyur?'**_

"I hope not. I told her to stay at home." In case you can't remember, Kydyur is my shiny Dratini. I got her to stay at home because she is too rare, and I don't want her getting into danger. Looks like she did anyway. "Come on, let's head back."

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"Leo!" I shouted as I ran back to the others. "We have a problem."

"What? What happened?" Leo questioned urgently.

"A boy ran into me on the way back. Apparently, there have been sightings of a Pokemon in Pewter. According to him, it's a strangely coloured Dratini."

"You don't think… Kydyur?" Leo seemed slightly panicked now.

"Well how many shiny Dratini can there be? I hope it isn't though. It's way too dangerous right now for her."

"Kydyur?" Ash said, coming into the conversation. "Why would she be here?"

"Probably after me." I answered.

"Well, there isn't much we can do." Leo said. "Let's just carry on for now. I'm sure she'll be fine." I nodded, and we followed Leo into Mount Moon.

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 **Chapter 16.**

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"Wow! It's so bright in here! What the heck?" Ash exclaimed.

"I know." Leo said. "It wasn't like this last time I was here." I glanced around, and noticed a Clefairy in one of the tunnels. I walked over to it.

"Hey there. What's wrong? What's happened here?"

' _ **Some people came and strung lights everywhere. Clefairy needs to get to the Moon Stone, Clefairy has the last piece. Can you help Clefairy?'**_ I sweatdropped. I had forgotten that Clefairy talk so wierdly.

"Sure, I can try and help you. What do you need?" Clefairy clapped.

' _ **Thank you. Clefairy will lead you to the Moon Stone!'**_

"Guys! This Clefairy needs our help. Let's follow it!" The three of us followed the Clefairy to the Moon Stone.

"Alex. This Clefairy is quite odd, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"Clefairy are normally quite shy, but this one seems… quite friendly."

"Well yeah, I guess that is odd. But let's just focus on helping them. Come on Leo, the Clefairy stopped." We caught up with it.

' _ **Clefairy are about to start.'**_ The Clefairy said.

' _ **Come on Clefairy, the others are waiting.'**_ A Clefairy said.

' _ **Trainers, watch Clefairy put the Moon Stone in!'**_ The Clefairy said, excited.

"Watch Ash, something's going to happen." I said to him, as he's only one that can't talk to Pokemon.

"What are they doing?" He asked. After consulting the Clefairy nearby, I answered.

"They are going to sing and dance to the Moon Stone, then it will choose who evolves."

"Well that's cool. Man, I really want to catch a Clefairy now."

"I don't think that would be a good idea Ash." Leo said. "They might not like a trainer trying to catch them. Now be quiet, it's starting." The Clefairy started dancing and singing to the stone, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

"What are they saying?" Ash whispered.

"No clue." We said back. Ash shut up, and we kept watching. Suddenly, an explosion occurred and three people stepped out. Well, two people and a Pokemon.

"Who are you? Why are you disrupting the ceremony?" I shouted at them.

"Silly girl." The one with pink hair replied. "We want that Moon Stone, that's why we're here."

"Jessie, don't tell them that." The blue haired one told her.

"It's not like it matters anyway. Get the stone and go!" The Meowth yelled, surprising us all with its perfect English, but we quickly got back on track.

"Well, we won't let you!" Ash shouted. The one called Jessie just smiled, and threw down a bomb. It exploded, spreading smoke everywhere. Leo called out Zephyr to get rid of the smoke, but when it was blown away, the three had gone, as had the Moon Stone.

"Guys! They stole the stone!" I shouted.

"We'd noticed." Leo said sarcastically. "Now come on, we need to get it back. Wildfire, come out and help us!"

' _ **Yes boss!'**_ He yelped.

As we ran off, the Clefairy we had been following looked at us. It then turned to it's friends.

' _ **Clefairy must help the trainers! Clefairy need to help them get the Moon Stone back!'**_ The other Clefairy nodded in agreement, and they followed behind.

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 **AN: Sorry about the chapters being kinda short guys, at some point I'll do a really long one to make up for it. Anyway, we calmed down Trix and she isn't going crazy anymore.**

 **T: I'm still mad you let Pixie read it and not me.**

 **P: Trix, Shadow didn't let me read it, but I did. Anyway, I'm not going to spill all of the secrets that she wrote in an AN. But maybe we should let you read it.**

 **SV: I'll let her read them, if she promises not to reveal what I write. The thing is, I really don't trust her that much.**

 **T: Ok, whatever. I guess I'm ok with that. So we'll see you guys next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hello again guys.**

 **T: Hello Shadow, good to see you.**

 **P: Sorry to the readers. Trix is a little hyper today. I told Shadow not to give her too much candy, but she didn't listen.**

 **SV: I didn't think it would make her this bad. Whatever, hope you enjoy.**

 **T: She doesn't own Pokemon, but I wish she did.**

 **P: And now she's gone completely insane. I'll see you guys at the bottom.**

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 **Chapter 17.**

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' _ **This way! This way!'**_ Wildfire shouted.

"Ok boy, slow down." Leo said. We had been chasing after the three criminals to get the Moon Stone back for the Clefairy. Spark was crackling at the chance to get them back, and Pikachu looked pretty angry too. Suddenly, Wildfire froze, sniffing at the air.

' _ **They're down here.'**_ He whispered.

"Alright you two, get ready to hit them. Try not to break the Moon Stone." Leo muttered. I turned to Ash.

"Try our combo. We might be able to frighten them outside. Leo, is there another exit?"

"I think so. I'll try and get out to trap them."

"Ok. Spark, Pikachu, you know what to do." The Pikachu jumped off our shoulders, and then caught the lightning that they tossed up. Spark turned to me.

' _ **Ready to roll Alex!'**_

"Go!" The two Pikachu's shot forward, sparking up their combo move before running straight at the three. The three screamed and ran for the exit, right towards where Leo was waiting. In their haste to get away, they left the Moon Stone behind. I ran over and grabbed it, putting it in my bag to keep safe for the Clefairy. Now we just need to catch up with the criminals and stop them. As we approached the exit, I saw the three being held against the wall by Wildfire. We ran up to him.

"Leo! You ok?" I said as we went next to them.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you get the stone?"

"Yup." I said, pulling it out of the bag. "How shall we deal with them?"

"Let us deal with that." Someone said from behind. They sounded quite familiar… I turned as they sent out their Pokemon. "Charcoal, go. Keep them pinned."

"Amy?" Leo said, shocked. She smiled.

"Hey bro. Fancy seeing you here. And you Alex, Ash."

"Amy, stop yapping and lets deal with these idiots." Crystal said, appearing behind her."

"Of course. It's about time these three got arrested." Bella added. "Esmeralda, come out and tie these up."

' _ **Yes boss.'**_ She grunted. Using her Vine Whip, she grabbed the trio and lifted them into the air.

"Hey! Put us down you stupid plant!" Jessie screamed.

"Oh come on Jessie, it's not that bad." The blue haired one said calmly.

"Shut up James! It _is_ a problem! We'll be in the Growlithe house for this!" The Meowth shouted, scratching James. Amy sighed.

"You three get the stone back to the Clefairy, we'll deal with these." She said. We nodded, and they walked towards Cerulean City.

"We'll meet up here later." Bella smiled. Suddenly, a Clefairy ran up to us.

' _ **Did the trainers get rid of the one's who took Clefairy's precious Moon Stone?'**_ She questioned.

"Yes little buddy. Let's take it back, shall we?" She nodded, and lead us back to her group.

We went back to the room where the Moon Stone had first been, and I put the stone back in it's place. The Clefairy started their dance, and the ceremony continued. The stone exploded into shards, and the shards fell onto the Clefairy. As the shards landed on them, they started to evolve into Clefable. Ash looked at his Pokedex, but Leo and myself ignored it because we knew what it was. After it had finished, round half had evolved and the rest were Clefairy still. I saw that two of the Clefairy looked disappointed. I recognised one as the Clefairy we had been following.

' _ **What's wrong Clefairy?'**_ A Clefable asked.

' _ **Clefairy wanted to be strong to go with nice girl on journey!'**_

' _ **Clefairy wants to go with the boy that helped us!'**_ I sweatdropped.

' _ **Why doesn't Clefairy go and ask them? They may say yes.'**_ The Clefable smiled. The two Clefairy looked at each other, then walked over to us. Leo was outside, looking to see if the girls had come back yet, but I still assumed that they meant him, as he was the one who had tracked down that trio. Speaking of them, it seems that the others had known who they were, I'll have to ask them later. But to my surprise they walked up to me and the female one asked. ' _ **Would Clefairy be allowed to come with you and the Pikachu? Brother Clefairy wants to go with the other one and Pikachu.'**_

"Huh? Do you mean me and Ash?"

' _ **Clefairy wants to join you! Can Clefairy?'**_

"Ash!" I called. "These Clefairy want to join us! What do you think?"

"Really?" He said. "Sure, I'll take one. Are you?" I just nodded, and pulled out a Pokeball.

"Let me just tap you on the head and you can come along." The female nodded and stepped forward, while the male walked over to Ash. We tapped them on the head and the ball shook a few times before clicking.

"Come on out!" I said, tossing the ball. I motioned for Ash to do the same. Clefairy twirled. "Ok Star, welcome to the group."

' _ **Star?'**_ She asked. ' _ **Clefairy likes that name. Thank you trainer!'**_

"If you want to say goodbye, now's the time to do it. We need to leave soon." Ash nodded.

"You too Lunar. Go and say goodbye." They headed back towards the group. I walked over to the tunnel leading over to the exit to give them some privacy. Being able to understand Pokemon can be useful, but if they want privacy, then I still understand what they are saying. So instead, I would just move away to let them talk. Ash followed behind, understanding the need to let them be alone with their family and friends to say farewell. After a few minutes, the two walked over, seemingly quite sad.

"Star, if you want to come home for a visit, just ask. I might have to fly, but I'm sure if I explain to Amy she'll let me borrow Charcoal to get back."

' _ **Thanks trainer! Star didn't know that trainers were that kind.'**_

' _ **Not all of them are, but Alex is. It's the same for her family and Ash. Trust me, they aren't bad people, they've been looking after wild Pokemon for years.'**_

"Ok Star, it's time to go. We'll have to train later, we have a gym coming up."

' _ **Ok. Star isn't sure if Star can do very well, but Star will do her best.'**_

"Thank you. Star, return." I held out her Pokeball and brought her back. Ash did the same.

' _ **We've got a strong team going. Good job Alex!'**_ Spark congratulated me.

"Thank's bud. I'll check the type chart later and see how our balance is. We shouldn't have too much of an issue against a water gym though."

"Hey Leo." Ash said as we walked up to stand next to my brother. "No sign of the others?"

"No. Let's just head along to Cerulean and try to meet them there."

"Ok then. Let's get going then." We headed off.

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 **Chapter 18.**

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As we walked, I started to wonder about the three people we had to fight. What did they mean about wanting the Moon Stone and being put into the Growlithe house? Did they work for someone? Who did they work for? It seemed like the others knew who they were, so once we regroup with them at the city, I'll ask them. After journeying for more than a year, I suppose they would have some knowledge of this. I'll also have to ask them if they plan on joining up with us on the journey. Probably not, as it will just be a lot of backtracking for them because they already have all the badges, or at least they should. Whatever, we're nearly there, so I guess we'll find out soon enough.

"Hi guys." Bella smiled. "Been making some new friends?"

"Or maybe," Amy said, appearing out of literally nowhere. "You've been meeting up with old ones?" She smiled in that mischievous way of hers.

"Did you…?" I questioned, trying not to reveal too much.

"I might have, I might not have. You won't know, not unless…"

"Now now Amy, don't go dropping too many hints." Crystal smiled.

' _ **Yeah,**_ **they** _ **might not need to know yet.'**_ Spark giggled.

"Ok, I'm completely lost. What are you guys on about?" Ash asked.

"It doesn't matter. You really don't want to know anyway." Amy said to him, chuckling slightly. Ash looked like he was about to reply, but I cut him off.

"Amy, who were those three? The ones from Mount Moon."

"Ah. _Those_ guys." Amy sighed.

"Those guys were part of a group called Team Rocket. They're a group of Pokemon thieves and the occasional petty criminal. Not always too bad, but they can be terrible. We had a few of them chasing us around quite often, sometimes it was those three. They were chasing us because of how well we trained and handled our Pokemon when we fought them before. They wanted us to join them, but we could see how badly the treated their Pokemon, so we refused and knocked out most of their members." Crystal smiled coldly at the memory. "So it's safe to say they don't like us too much. Hopefully they don't try targeting you when they figure out we're related, or best friends in Ash's case. It could get dangerous for you guys."

"Don't worry Cryst, I'm sure we'll be fine. After all, even with Pokemon that are considered common and weak, we can still wreck shop. Trust me on this one." I reassured her. She looked skeptical, but nodded her consent.

"Before you get to Cerulean City, you might want to get some training done. Misty's Pokemon average at a pretty high level, and you don't have the strongest Pokemon."

"Sure. Ash, Leo, you guys going to train too?"

"Sounds like a good idea." The boys chorused.

"I have an idea." Amy said. She had been uncharacteristically quiet just then. Bella was the quiet one, with the best strategies, Amy was more jolly, with a preference of toying with battles she thinks she can win. Crystal had a more cold attitude, with a merciless powerhouse strategy. "If we send out some of our weaker Pokemon, we can let them battle with a couple of each of the other Pokemon."

"That could be a good idea. I'll work with Ash, Amy can work with Alex, and Crystal can work with Leo." Bella said, smiling. "Esmeralda, let's go!"

"Charcoal, you're up!"

"Tsunami, time to help out!"

' _ **What are we doing Miss?'**_ Tsunami questioned his trainer.

"We're going to help these three train their Pokemon. Me and you are working with Leo." He nodded happily, then frowned.

' _ **How are we going to make it fair, we're all a lot more powerful than anything these could have. No offence meant.'**_

' _ **None taken.'**_ Pikachu smiled.

"We'll be battling with our weaker moves. After all, you are right about being stronger than them. That's why we're helping them with training."

' _ **Well, I'm ready to fight. Let's see what these little guys have got!'**_ Charcoal cried, but was pulled back by Esmeralda.

' _ **We're only helping the little one's train, it's not a true battle. If you want a proper fight, I'm sure Bella and Amy would be more than happy to let us battle later. But for now, let's give the little ones some help.'**_

"Ok guys, quite arguing and let's get to battling." Bella said, and the other took their places. Let's begin.

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 **AN: Well that was a long one. We managed to slightly calm down Trixie, and trust me, it may seem that she wasn't that bad, but she's normally quite sour.**

 **T: Whatever. You're not being very nice.**

 **P: No, Shadow is being nice, you're just being rude.**

 **SV: Hopefully you've enjoyed and are happy about the girls finally arriving! Maybe we'll get to that secret soon.**

 **T: You still haven't told me what it is.**

 **P: Because you'll probably spill it to everyone.**

 **SV: I'll tell you later Trix, or Pix will. I'll see all of you readers next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Ok guys, we filled in Trix on the secret, but luckily right now the two are out in the forest, as they're visiting family. They should be back by the time we finish, so you might see them then. Still don't own Pokemon by the way.**

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 **Chapter 19.**

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"Ok. Star, go!" She glanced up at Charcoal and trembled.

' _ **Miss Alex! Star thinks that you've overdone this battle!'**_ Amy grinned and Charcoal laughed slightly.

' _ **Don't worry little fairy, I'm only here to help train. Miss Amy agreed to help her younger sister.'**_ Star let out a sigh of relief. It was obvious that while she was a Relaxed nature, she was definitely freaked out by the Charizard.

"What do you think we should work on Amy? I'm using Star and Jade for the battle."

"Well, Clefairy are more tanky Pokemon, better defensive stats than offensive. That being said, they can use a few Fairy type moves." She turned to address Star. "Can you use Disarming Voice yet?"

' _ **Mother Clefable taught it to me when Star was young in case Star needed to defend herself and brother Lunar.'**_

"Ok. Use it on Charcoal here. Don't worry, he won't mind." Star let out a shriek, causing Charcoal to get quite a headache.

' _ **Ouch! That was loud! Let's not do it again please.'**_ Amy nodded in approval.

"Good job. Being able to cause some damage to Charcoal. That's a very strong Clefairy." Star blushed, happy with the complement. "I'd say level her up a little more, but she doesn't seem to need any specialised training. Let's look at your other Pokemon."

"If you say so sis. Jade, time to go!" Jade was also extremely intimidated by the Charizard, but that was also remedied quickly by his explanation.

"What attacks can you use, little Butterfree?" Amy asked kindly. She seemed able to sense her nervousness.

' _ **I have Tackle, Confusion, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder and Stun Spore.'**_

"Good, a lot of status attacks. We can use those. Try using each of them on Charcoal." He looked at his trainer. "Don't worry, I can heal you between hits." So Charcoal took each of the hits, not minding too much, as it was to help the 'little ones', as he kept referring to them as. After a little while, Amy called for her to stop.

"Nice job. You definitely are a strong Pokemon." Amy turned to me. "I think that you only need to level up your Pokemon more. They don't need too much with new moves."

"Ok. That sounds like tomorrow's job. After all, we don't want to stuff too much into one day. Also, we could do with taking a look around the city." I turned to the others. They were still doing some training. "Hey guys, shall we get going? We may as well check out the town and see what we can do there."

"Sure." Bella said, smiling. "We can give you guys a tour if you want."

"That sure sounds useful." Ash said excitedly. "We should take a look over the place before we do the gym. Otherwise we could get lost."

"We could also get you guys some new Pokemon." Crystal said, as calculating as always. "After all, you don't have the fullest of teams, do you? Alex has five and both of you have three. We could help you to get some more if you want. It won't take too long, and we can also do some of that training."

"That should be fun." Leo replied, smiling. "I would like to get some new Pokemon."

' _ **And I want some new friends!'**_ Spark cried, I laughed, and returned my team.

"Come on guys, let's go." I turned and walked towards Cerulean City.

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 **Chapter 20.**

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The girls lead the way around the city, pointing out different places for us. Ash looked about ready to charge straight for the gym, but I held him back, reminding him that we needed to train. We walked around the city for a while, getting to know where everything is, before finally heading up to Route 24 and 25 for some training. Hopefully we can capture some new Pokemon for our teams. After all, it's nice to have a ton of Pokemon on backup, just in case we need to swap them around.

"Come on guys, let's get some new friends!" Ash shouted.

' _ **Yeah! I want some new partners to train with!'**_ Pikachu chorused. I giggled slightly.

"Ok you two, calm down. We'll split up and get some new members, shall we?" The boys nodded, and the girls headed back to the city.

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After a little running around, I ran across an Abra. This was quite a rare find, and I opened the Pokedex, even though I knew what it was.

"Joey, let's go!"

' _ **What are we doing?'**_

"Catching an Abra. Quick Attack and Bite." The Abra was quite low leveled, and we caught it easily. That would be useful against Koga. I'll have to get around to training it later. We could also use it against Sabrina, that would be fun. It would have to be a Kadabra though, as Abra don't do much. I'll have to trade it to get an Alakazam, and I don't want to trade it yet because I'd have to do it with one of the others. We did a little training too, knowing the boys wanted to do the gym today.

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' _ **Alex?'**_ Joey snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Yes bud? What is it?"

' _ **I keep feeling a powerful aura following us, like a Pokemon.'**_ Spark twitched as though trying to sense it.

' _ **Yeah, I feel it too. Over in those bushes.'**_ I headed over, and saw a flash of pink, bright pink, not purple, before it disappeared.

' _ **That wasn't it. That feels more powerful, and different. It wasn't the same Pokemon, that's for sure.'**_

"We should go back. Maybe the girls would know something about it." That pink… maybe… no, that couldn't be it. They aren't allowed, and they know this. I wouldn't put it past them though. "Come on. One new member will do." I returned Joey and headed back.

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 **Chapter 21.**

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"Amy." I said as I approached.

"What is it?"

"I saw a strange Pokemon while I was out. I only caught a glance of it, but it looked bright pink. Spark and Joey said it had a powerful aura about it. Any ideas as to what it might be?" Amy was thoughtful for a second, then shook her head.

"No clue. Maybe the boys saw something similar. Are you going to take on the gym now?"

"I'll let the boys fight first, but sure. We'll wait for them here." Right as I said this, they appeared behind us. I filled them in, but neither of them had seen anything. I sighed. "Oh well. Want to do the gym?"

"Sure. Let's go." Amy turned to lead the way, but we were stopped by Officer Jenny.

"Are you the ones that brought in the grunts from Team Rocket?"

"Yeah. These three caught them." Bella gestured at us.

"Well, thank you for catching those criminals."

"Have you been able to get anything from them about their boss?" Crystal questioned.

"Nothing yet, but we'll get there." Jenny left, and I turned to Ash and Leo.

"What did you catch?"

"I got a Weedle, and her name is Sting, and Shmurda, a Bellsprout."

"I caught an Oddish named Leaf, and a Venonat called Zimmy," Leo told me. "What about you?"

"I got an Abra, and he's named Tele. Now, are we going to stand here all day or fight a gym?" I looked back to Amy, and we headed for the gym. Checking over our chosen Pokemon one last time, we stepped inside.

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 **AN: A little short today, sorry about that. What do you guys think that pink thing was?**

 **P: It was pretty cool. I hope we see it again soon.**

 **SV: We will. Maybe not too soon. We will be meeting some other friends of the family soon though.**

 **T: Yeah. The secret is a good idea by the way. Weird, but I like it.**

 **SV: Leave what you think that thing was, and see you next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hey guys.**

 **P: Shadow? What's wrong?**

 **SV: Nothing, I'm fine.**

 **T: No, you aren't.**

 **SV: Seriously, it doesn't matter. I don't own Pokemon, now let's go.**

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Chapter 22.

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Misty, the gym leader, was already at the gym. We went over to the stands, as Ash was going first. She brought out Staryu, and Ash used Lunar. This would be the Clefairy's first battle, so I was eager to see how it would turn out.

"Staryu, Psywave!"

"Lunar, dodge and use DoubleSlap!"

' _ **No battle for you! Lunar will beat you!'**_

"Staryu, get it away with Rapid Spin, then use Water Gun!"

"Stop it in it's tracks, Disarming Voice!"

"Watch out Staryu!" The Staryu tried dodging, but was caught by the edge of the attack.

' _ **Ouch!'**_

"Staryu, are you ok?"

' _ **I'll be fine Miss Misty. Awaiting your next order.'**_

"Lunar, are you ok?"

' _ **Lunar is fine. Let's do this!'**_

"Fine. Lunar, Disarming Voice!"

"BubbleBeam!" The two attacks collided, making the Disarming Voice act like a shield, and was made more powerful. It bashed into Staryu, sending it flying into the water, knocked out.

"Staryu, return. Good job kid. Good for a newbie, that is."

"Why you…"

"Starmie, come on out!"

"Lunar, you good to keep going?"

' _ **Lunar will try his best!'**_ Ash looked at us, and I nodded my head.

"Ok Lunar, use DoubleSlap!"

"Starmie, use Rapid Spin to knock it away, then use Hydro Pump!"

"Lunar, watch out!" He tried to dodge the attack, but was hit by the Hydro Pump and was knocked out.

"Lunar, return. Pikachu, you're up."

' _ **I was starting to think you wouldn't need me. Ready to go Ash!'**_

"Huh, a Pikachu. Well, just because you have a type advantage doesn't mean you'll beat me! Starmie, Swift!"

"Dodge, then use Thundershock!"

"Confuse Ray Starmie!" Pikachu was hit by the attack, and was confused. He stumbled around the field, and nearly fell into the pool.

"Pikachu, try ThunderShock." He let loose a bolt of lightning, but missed.

"You won't hit me like that." Misty smirked.

"Come on Pikachu, snap out of it!"

' _ **Come on bud, you can do it!'**_ Spark cheered. Pikachu whisked around and fixed onto Starmie.

"Ok Pikachu, time to go!" Knowing exactly what he meant, Pikachu charged at Starmie, using ThunderShock to power him up. Misty panicked.

"Starmie, stop it with Hydro Pump!"

"Keep going Pikachu!" He rammed into Starmie, sending it flying into the wall with super effective damage.

"Starmie!" Misty shouted, and ran over to it, lying knocked out by the wall. "Return." She turned back to Ash. "Here, the Cascade badge. Good match."

"Thanks." Ash turned back to the stands. "So who's next?"

"I'll go next." Leo said, taking his place on the field.

"Ok, one moment." Misty replied, walking into a side room. She came back a few minutes later, and stood for the next challenger.

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 **Chapter 23.**

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' _ **Not again.'**_ It sighed. ' _ **Another powerful trainer to beat me.'**_

"Zephyr, time to soar!"

' _ **Ready and waiting Leo!'**_

"Staryu, Water Gun!"

"Gust, blow it back! Then Steel Wing!"

"Staryu, Rapid Spin!" They collided head to head, or errr, gem, and Staryu was sent flying into the wall.

"Now, Quick Attack! Stop this battle quickly!"

"Water Gun! Don't let it hit you!" Unfortunately, Staryu fired the attack a little too late, and took some damage before knocking it away. "Can you still battle?"

' _ **I'll try Miss Misty.'**_ It moaned.

"Zephyr, you ok?"

' _ **I'll be fine Leo, I can take this.'**_ He said back, still ready to fight.

"Ok bud, Wing Attack!"

"Staryu, dodge!" Staryu started to leap aside, but Zephyr changed direction, slamming into them. Staryu went rocketing into the wall, knocked out. "Staryu, return." Misty sighed. "You're good. Now, Starmie, it's your turn!"

"Zeph, come on back." Leo said, returning the Pidgeotto. "Rema, have a go!"

' _ **Who'm I fighting, then?'**_ She grinned, looking at the field.

"Starmie, Swift!" Misty was starting off with a strong attack, trying to get rid of Rema to get at the more powerful Pokemon Leo was holding in the back. Shame she was wrong. Though Zephyr was an evolved Pokemon, Rema was Leo's starter and had been with us and training for 9 months. Leo was grinning like a maniac, and I knew he realised that she thought Zephyr was stronger.

"Quick Attack to dodge, then Focus Energy!"

"Wha…? Hydro Pump Starmie!"

"Use Dig to dodge, then Pursuit!" Rema dove below the arena.

"Err, look around Starmie! See if you can find it!" Misty was panicking, not expecting to have this happen. Rema burst out of the ground behind Starmie. It started to turn, but she charged into the back of it, ramming it into the water.

"Rema, jump in after it!"

"Are you crazy? Do you want to lose? Tackle it while it can't get away!"

"Wait for it bud!" Leo shouted to Rema, knowing she would hear him. He seemed to be listening to something, then made another command. "Use Hyper Fang!" For a couple of seconds nothing happened, then Starmie was sent flying into the wall in a sparkle of water.

"Starmie!" Misty shouted, running to the fainted Pokemon. "Come on back." She sighed. She turned back to Leo and sighed. "Well done. I see I underestimated the power of your Rattata."

' _ **Yeah you did.'**_ Rema chuckled from her place on Leo's shoulder.

"Here, the Cascade badge. Now," She said, turning to the stands and looking at me. "I believe that you're next for a battle, correct?"

"Sure." I hopped down to the stands, planning on letting Star deal with the Staryu. Then Jade should be able to knock out the Starmie. Misty walked away into the side room again and came out again a few minutes later. I assumed the room had a healing machine in it or something, because she was using the same Pokemon.

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"Staryu, third time's the charm!"

"Star, here's your time to shine!"

' _ **Star will do her best!'**_ She cheered.

' _ **Not again… But I'll do my best for you Miss Misty!'**_ It sighed.

"Ok Star, Defence Curl and DoubleSlap!"

"Use BubbleBeam to get it away!"

"Disarming Voice! Block it!"

"Rapid Spin!"

"DoubleSlap! Go for a quick knockout!"

"Watch out Staryu!"

' _ **Owwww!'**_ Staryu yelped. ' _ **That hurts!'**_

"Staryu! Are you ok?"

' _ **I'll be fine.'**_

"You good to keep going Star?"

' _ **Star is waiting for your next command Alex!'**_

"Ok Star, shut this down with Disarming Voice!"

"Staryu, try and defeat it with BubbleBeam!" The two attacks collided like they had in Ash's battle, but this time they exploded, sending a pulse of water that knocked out both of our Pokemon.

"Star, return."

"Staryu, come on back. Starmie, next test!"

' _ **Let's win this one!'**_

"Jade, let's finish this battle with a victory!"

' _ **Time to shine! What first Alex?'**_

"Starmie, shut this down quickly! Swift!" Apparently, Misty had learned not to underestimate a Pokemon because it's common. Good, I really like a decent challenge.

"Use Gust and PoisonPowder!" Misty looked confused for a second, then realised what I was trying to do.

"Starmie! Get in the water, quickly!" Starmie dove into the water, and Misty looked warily at Jade.

"That thing seems strong... " Misty whispered to herself, and shuddered. Hearing this, I looked at Amy and raised an eyebrow. She nodded slightly, and I chuckled quietly to myself. It hadn't been that Misty had learned not to underestimate common Pokemon; in fact, it seemed the opposite was true, with how surprised she had been. No, it seems that Misty had wanted to beat Jade quickly because she was afraid of bugs. I felt kinda bad for giggling. Lots of people had fears of things, so I really shouldn't be mean about it. Misty then recovered herself and commanded Starmie. "Hydro Pump Starmie!" It burst out of the water and shot a jet of water at Jade. I could see she started to panic.

"Jade, try using Confusion to turn it around!" Jade focused on the attack, and it went pink for a second before shattering. She tried again, and I saw a small flash of pink out of the corner of my eye. The Hydro Pump was caught in a blob of pink, and redirected into the wall. I prepared to shout the next command, but an explosion made a hole in the wall. We turned to look at it, and I knew the others had stood too. A giant looming figure appeared in the hole, and three smaller figures stood on top of it. I heard Amy groan in the background, and then Crystal shouted at them.

"How many times is your boss going to forgive you for your stupidity?! Like, good Arceus you three are _horrible_."

"Well, our boss has been very forgiving lately, so we're here to redeem ourselves. Now hand over your super powerful Pokemon." Jessie smirked.

"Wha…? Who are you guys?" Misty questioned.

"These three are part of Team Rocket. They try and steal Pokemon from trainers."

"Let's deal with them, eh Jade?"

' _ **Ready and willing.'**_

' _ **I'll help too.'**_ Starmie said, walking next to her.

"Spark, go!"

"Pikachu, you're up!"

"Wildfire, show them!"

"Cobalt, help us out!"

"Grace, time to go!"

"Sukima, give us a hand!"

' _ **Ready to roll!'**_ They chorused, coming onto the field. Team Rocket seemed intimidated for a moment, but kept going.

"Ekans, Koffing, deal with these!"

' _ **Yes Master.'**_ They groaned, shooting poison at our team.

"Cobalt, Sukima, combo 2!" Crystal and Amy commanded. Cobalt used Aura Sphere, and Sukima added Flamethrower to the attack. It knocked away the robot, but missed the Pokemon.

"Spark, Pikachu, combo time for you too!" I told them. They dashed towards it, and Wildfire followed in a Flame Wheel.

"Grace, give them a taste of your Fairy moves." Bella smiled. "Moonblast!" The attack rammed into the Poison types, and knocked them out, despite being resistant to it.

"Return." Jessie smiled, even in spite of their current situation. "Time to take these by force. Meowth?"

"With pleasure." He smiled, pushing a button. A giant vacuum came out of it, and all of our Pokemon started being pulled in. Quickly, the others returned their Pokemon, but neither of our Pikachu's had a Pokeball, and were sucked in. As they were, I saw a purple streak follow them, along with all of the water in the pool.

"Hey!" Misty yelled. "That's our pool!"

"Yeah." James said. "We should give that back." He signed for Meowth to push the button again, but was stopped when a spark flew out of the tube. "Meowth?" James sounded worried now. "What's happening?"

"I don't know!" He said, panicking. "Those Pikachu's must be messing with something!"

"Quickly! Spit them out!" Jessie screeched. A torrent of water came shooting out the pipe, and Spark and Pikachu came flying out, along with another familiar Pokemon.

' _ **I'll show you three!'**_ Kydyur shouted, glaring at the three. ' _ **Spark, get over here and help them blast off!'**_

' _ **Ok!'**_ Spark ran to Kydyur's side, and Pikachu went to the other. Ky glanced at him, and then Spark. ' _ **Let's shock 'em!'**_

' _ **Three, two, one… Thunderbolt!'**_

' _ **Thundershock!'**_ The three streams of lightning shot at the trio, and they were sent flying into the sky.

"Look's like Team Rocket's blasting off!"

"Kydyur!" I knelt down next to them and gave her a hug.

' _ **Good to see you again Alex! And you too Spark!'**_

"Here." Misty said, tapping me on the shoulder. "You won that battle and saved the gym."

"Thank you." I smiled at her. Spark climbed up my arm, and Ky wrapped herself around my shoulders, with her head next to Spark. I took the badge from her, and turned to smile at the others. Ash headed out the door, and we followed behind.

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 **AN: P: We okay now that you have the next chapter done?**

 **SV: Yeah, thanks you two.**

 **T: Don't mention it. But was it just me who felt the battles were a little rushed?**

 **SV: Sorry, I'm not too good at writing extended battle scenes. Especially not this early.**

 **P: Then you shouldn't have stayed up so late watching that show.**

 **T: Yeah, and also done this sooner.**

 **SV: Whatever. It's like, a week 'till Christmas, can I get a break?**

 **P: Ok. We'll see all of you guys next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Happy belated Christmas! *Pixie walks in with a small paper hat.***

 **P:Yeah! We got some pretty cool stuff, and a pool of inspiration, so Shadow's been writing like crazy.**

 **T: Mmmhhh. *Continues chewing on something.***

 **SV: What** _ **are**_ **you eating?**

 **T: Biscuits. Your friends are really good at picking out gifts.**

 **P: True. Anyway, Shadow doesn't own Pokemon. Now go enjoy the story!**

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 **Chapter 24.**

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We all headed towards the Pokemon Center, and I was surprised that no-one was crowded around the gym after the explosion. Either way, I didn't want to get blamed for that, so I hurried to the center, talking to Kydyur on the way.

"How come you're here?"

' _ **You didn't want me to come, as I was too rare, so I waited until you left and Amy, Bella and Crystal had come and got the others, and I followed you here.'**_

"Huh. I guess it was probably you the others could hear. Joey and Spark said they could sense a powerful aura."

' _ **Maybe it was me. But then, I don't do much for psychic aura. Did you think it might have been…'**_

"No." I said, cutting her off. "They all know that they aren't allowed because of safety. Although, I truly wouldn't put it past them to do that."

' _ **I know.'**_ Ky nodded. ' _ **They really would do that.'**_

"Either way, I'd prefer that they didn't. It could make things a little awkward."

' _ **Who for, eh?'**_ She smirked. ' _ **You, Ash or those other friends?'**_

"Quiet, we're here." I shushed her, as we all walked into the center. We left our Pokemon that had fought with Nurse Joy, and sat down in a corner, away from other trainers.

"So Ky," Leo said to her. "How was it in Pewter, getting spotted like that?"

' _ **Hey, it was an accident!'**_ She yelped. ' _ **I was trying to catch up to you, and a few trainers saw me. One was pretty knowledgeable on Pokemon, and recognised my rarity. He tried to battle me, and then catch me, but I dodged around them and got away. I had to hide out there for a day or so, and then ran for Mount Moon. I saw you guys going to Route 24, so I ran over to the gym and hid in the water. You know the rest.'**_ Ash didn't understand what she said, so I filled him in. He nodded.

"Ok. Seeing as we're done here, let's rest at this place and head for Vermillion tomorrow."

"Sounds smart." Crystal smiled. "I guess we'll see what we get."

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Next morning, we gathered up all our stuff, ready to continue to Vermillion. As we exited the building, two people ran into us. Crystal looked annoyed for a second, and seemed about to shout at them, but recognized them.

"Lillian, Lucas!" She cried, hugging them. "How are you?"

"Fine Crystal!" Lillian giggled. "It's great to see you too!"

"Hey guys." I smiled. "How come you're here? I thought you were in Johto."

"Yeah, well…" Lucas shrugged. "We need to talk with these three." He said, motioning towards Amy, Bella and Crystal. "Unless…" He glanced to me, and I shook my head. They walked over to the other side, out of earshot, and had a whispered conversation. Ash looked like he wanted to go and see what they were talking about, but I pulled him over. He wasn't to go and eavesdrop on them, especially on this important matter. They came over from Johto to tell these three whatever it is they are saying. After a few minutes, they came back over, and Amy had a serious look on her face. This may not be good. I was tempted to ask what had happened, but Crystal caught my eye and shook her head. I knew I wouldn't get anything out of them, so I just gave up. Maybe some other time I can spring it up and get the answer, but right now they wouldn't say anything. Lucas turned to Bella.

"You think it'll go ok?"

"Sure it will." Bella smiled. "But I'll keep an eye on it for you."

"Thank you." He said happily. "We'll go now and leave you to your journey. See you around." They wandered off, heading towards Mount Moon. Lillian turned back to wave at us, and we all waved back. Ash turned to Bella with a questioning look on his face.

"Who were they?"

"They're some friends of ours. We met a long time ago."

"How old was that girl? She didn't look old enough to be on a journey."

"She's a little older than nine, but Lucas is twelve, so their father said the could travel together." Amy replied, turning towards Route 5.

"And what were you guys talking about?" Ash questioned, clearly interested. However, Amy and the others didn't seem to hear him, and continued down the road. Ash shot a glance at me, but I just shook my head and walked after them, beckoning for Ash to follow.

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 **Chapter 25.**

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As we walked along the pathway, I could see Ash glaring at Amy, and knew that he was angry that she wouldn't answer his question. I grinned slightly; Crystal was the more 'cold' one, but Amy could be stronger than steel when it came to hiding things. That was good sometimes, as she would always keep secrets and wouldn't tell anyone, no matter how much you tried to bribe her. Suddenly Bella turned, and shouted over her shoulder to us.

"Hey guys, let's go and explore this forest. There could be some cool Pokemon in there for you."

"Sure!" Ash shouted back, his anger at Amy temporarily forgotten. He ran off next to Bella, and started questioning her on what sort of Pokemon they could find here. I ran over to listen too.

"Well, there's the normal common Pokemon, like Pidgey and Rattata, along with Oddish and Bellsprout. Then there are some more rare Pokemon, Mankey, Meowth, Abra and Jigglypuff. You can also find Nidoran, but they are super rare. I don't recall anything else. Amy?"

"You can also see Pidgeotto, but that's about it. Now come on, let's go." We all went walking into the forest. Ash ran ahead, and the girls were lagging behind. I suppose they were talking about whatever the others had told them. I was tempted to see what they were talking about, but I knew they wouldn't say anything. Oh well, I might be able to learn it later. Until then, I can focus on my training and catching new Pokemon. Ash gave a shout.

"A Nidoran! I thought those were rare!"

"They are." Amy said.

"Well, I'm going to catch it!" He replied, excited. Pikachu hopped down and got ready to battle. "ThunderShock!" Pikachu shot lightning at the little purple Pokemon, and knocked it into a tree.

' _ **Owwww!'**_ He screamed.

"Follow that up with Quick Attack!" Pikachu went charging towards the small Pokemon, but was wacked aside by a Razor Leaf. "What?" From a patch of trees towards the edge of the area, a Bulbasaur ran out in front of the Nidoran. It stood there and growled at Pikachu, then barked at the Nidoran.

' _ **Go back! Get back to the village!'**_ The Nidoran stumbled slightly, and ran back in the direction that the Bulbasaur had came from. I stared at the Bulbasaur; something was odd about it… then it clicked.

"Hey, isn't that a shiny Bulbasaur?"

"It is?" Ash said, now even more excited. "I've gotta catch that!"

' _ **You won't catch me!'**_ It yelled at Ash, then used Sleep Powder to get rid of us. I called on Jade, and told her to use Gust to blow it away from us. After it all disappeared, we were left facing an empty field.

"Dang it! It got away!" Ash moaned. "Come on, let's follow it!"

"Hold up Ash." I said, pulling him back. "That Bulbasaur seemed pretty protective of that Pokemon. It could be a bad idea to follow it."

"We should at least go and see if we can help them." Bella suggested. "After all, it's our own fault that the Nidoran was hurt. Bulbasaur said something about a village, so maybe we should see if we can find it." We nodded in agreement, and went walking into that area of the bushes to see if we could find the place.

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A few minutes later, we came across a rope bridge hanging over a huge river. I looked warily at it, not thinking it was all that safe. Ash was, however, as oblivious as normal, and went rushing onto the bridge. He paused halfway across, turning back to look at us.

"You guys coming?"

"This doesn't look safe Ash."

"Of course it is. Now come on, we need to find that shiny Bulbasaur and its friends!" He shouted, continuing on. Right as he reached the middle, the ropes on our side snapped, and the bridge was sent swinging into the ravine. Before Ash fell, a blue light surrounded it, and pulled it back into its original place. I turned and saw that Bella had called out Grace to stop the bridge from falling.

"Thanks Grace. Do you think you can hold it up so we can cross?"

' _ **I'll do my best Miss Bella.'**_ She said, determined.

"Thank you. Go on guys, you can run over." Bella told us. Once we were all across, Grace let the bridge drop and teleported over to us. "Thank you so much Grace. Have a good rest." She said, returning her. "Ash, _never be that stupid again!_ " My sister shouted at him.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry."

"Ok." She said, calming down quickly. "Let's go."

"We should split up." Amy said. "We can cover more ground."

"Good idea. Ky, you head with Bella, ok?"

' _ **Sure.'**_

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I kept heading in the same direction, and soon found a clearing. The clearing was quite big, and had a small lake on one side. It would have been peaceful, but there was a ton of noise from all of the Pokemon. There was a range of different Pokemon there, from common to rare. I scanned the place; there didn't seem to be any sight of the Bulbasaur or Nidoran. I stepped into the clearing, and sure enough, the Bulbasaur jumped in front of me.

' _ **You trainers aren't welcome here.'**_ He growled. ' _ **Leave us alone!'**_

' _ **Hey! We just wanted to apologise for hurting your friend!'**_ Spark shouted back. ' _ **No need to be so rude!'**_

"Cool it Spark. We are the ones walking into his home. Now apologise for being so rude." I scolded her. She looked hurt, but said sorry. "There, that wasn't so bad." I knelt down next to the shiny. He was looking at me strangely. "What's up?" He sniffed at my leg and frowned.

' _ **You…'**_

' _ **We know, Alex is a weird trainer for keeping an eye on everything.'**_ Spark interrupted. ' _ **Trust me, we all know. Honestly, Bella's worse.'**_

"Stop it Spark. I do want to know why _you_ are so protective of these Pokemon, little bud." Bulbasaur looked about to answer, but a girl around 17 came over. He went over to her, and she picked him up.

' _ **I thought he said they didn't like trainers here.'**_ Spark grumbled. This caught the girl's attention, and she stiffened slightly and closed her arms protectively around the shiny.

' _ **It's ok Melanie. This one is fine.'**_ He reassured her.

"Ok. Sorry about that, but most trainers tend to want to capture all these Pokemon, especially a shiny."

"Don't worry. I have my own shiny to worry about."

"Where is it?"

"It's with my sister. We wanted to apologise for attacking that Nidoran." I picked up Spark from my shoulder and put her on the ground. "Spark, do you mind getting the others? Bring them back here."

' _ **Ok!'**_ She said happily, and bounced off. The shiny wriggled in Melanie's arms, and she let him down too. He ran off towards the other Pokemon, and wandered between each of the groups.

"Are all of these Pokemon yours?" She shook her head.

"No, I'm no trainer. These are all wild Pokemon. I just take care of them until they are better and then let them go."

"What about the shiny Bulbasaur? He seemed quite attached to you."

"I found him in the wild too. I don't know what happened to him as he was seriously injured. He wouldn't tell me what happened, so I never asked him. He stayed here to guard the village." I was about to ask her more questions, but Spark came running through the bushes, with the others close behind. I wanted Ky to meet Bulbasaur, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm going to go and find Bulbasaur. Do you mind showing the others through?"

"Sure thing."

"Thanks." I called over to Kydyur. "Ky! Come on, we've got someone to meet!"

' _ **Awesome!'**_ She cried, sliding over. Melanie looked impressed.

"Wow! A shiny Dratini! Even normal ones are super rare!"

"Yeah, I've had her since she was an egg. I'm gonna go look for Bulbasaur then."

"Ok. See you later." I nodded in response, and walked towards the other groups of Pokemon, with Spark on my shoulder and Ky walking at my side.

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 **Chapter 26.**

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I wandered between the different Pokemon, but couldn't see Bulbasaur anywhere. I thought I had seen him over by a group of grass types near the lake, as I went over and knelt by a Gloom and spoke to it.

"Hey, do you know where the Bulbasaur went?"

' _ **Yeah.'**_ He said slowly. ' _ **He went into the woods. He does that sometimes.'**_

"Ok. Thank you." I replied. I stood up again and went over in the direction the Gloom had indicated.

' _ **Didn't Melanie say that Bulbasaur was a guard?'**_ Spark questioned. ' _ **So why does he wander away? Does he know if something happened there?'**_

"Maybe, maybe not." I answered. "We can figure that out when we find him. We have to make sure nothing bad happens to him. If he's wild, most trainers will catch him instantly."

' _ **That's true.'**_ Ky agreed. ' _ **Come on, we should split up and find him.'**_

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Ky was right about splitting up; it was much faster to find him by hunting around. I sent Jade with Spark, Joey with Ky and kept Star and Tele with me. That way, it was two Pokemon searching together and we could protect him. I told Spark and Joey that if they found him, they should come running to find me while Ky and Jade start heading back. Star was trying to talk to Tele, but he was just floating in one place.

' _ **Miss Alex!'**_ Star whined. ' _ **Friend Tele won't talk to me!'**_

"Abra tend to just sleep." I told her, and then knelt next to him. I tapped him on the arm. "Tele?" I said softly. "Tele, wake up."

' _ **Miss Alex. I can feel humans ahead. I think it's two and a few Pokemon.'**_

"Is it the shiny Bulbasaur?"

' _ **I can't tell. Do we investigate?'**_

"Sure. Lead on."

' _ **Wow Tele!'**_ Star said excitedly. ' _ **You're super powerful!'**_

' _ **Not normally. I can feel a boost from a strong psychic type nearby, though what or where it is I don't know.'**_ He replied, floating towards the things he could feel. We walked quietly behind, but then Star stopped and pointed up.

' _ **Miss Alex! Isn't that they balloon of those that took the Moon Stone?'**_

"Team Rocket?" I looked to where she was pointing, and saw the familiar Meowth balloon. "Dang it! They must have been looking for rare Pokemon."

' _ **Miss Alex. I can feel the others on there. I believe that they may have captured your other Pokemon.'**_

"Tele, do you think you can stop them with Confusion? Or Teleport onto the balloon and get the others out?"

' _ **I can try.'**_ Tele answered. He glowed that same pink that Jade did when using Confusion, and it flashed on the balloon for a moment, then shattered. ' _ **Sorry Alex, I can't do it.'**_

"That's ok. Do you think you can Teleport up there and get the others out?"

' _ **I believe so. I'll have to be fast, but I'll do what I can.'**_ He replied, determined. He shone the pink aura that Grace had done when teleporting, then flashed out of sight. He reappeared onto the balloon, and used Confusion to let them out. Another flash of pink later, he was back next to me on the ground. At first, Spark and Ky ignored me, and fired a ThunderShock and Flamethrower combo towards the balloon. It went up in flames, and was sent flying away from the forest. Bulbasaur was next to me, and was knocked out. They all went running over to me and gave me a hug. I laughed and wriggled out of it, and went over to Bulbasaur.

' _ **He was caught first and used as bait.'**_ Spark said sadly. ' _ **He doesn't seem too good.'**_

"You don't have to tell me that. Everyone, return!" I pulled everyone back into their Pokeballs, and Spark climbed onto my shoulder. I picked up the little shiny, and could feel that it was weak. Ky lead the way back, and I ran on behind her.

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After a few minutes, I heard the racket of the little Pokemon that lived in the village. I picked up the pace, and Spark ran over to Melanie before I came through the bushes. Melanie came running over and took Bulbasaur from me, then ran over to a smallish building over at the lake. I followed, and heard the others coming behind me. Bella was talking to Ash, so she was probably filling him in on what happened. I ignored them, and kept going. I slipped into the house, and saw that Melanie was working on Bulbasaur. I stood next to her, helping in anyway I could. Bella came in with a ton of different herbs, and I stood aside, knowing Bella had loads more experience in healing. After a few minutes, Bulbasaur was no better and I was getting nervous. Then Star burst out of her Pokeball. Bella kept working, but Melanie turned around. I knelt next to her.

"Star? Why are you here?"

' _ **Star wants to help the little Bulbasaur!'**_ She said.

"She wants to help." Melanie told me, assuming I couldn't understand Pokemon.

"Star, you can't do anything to help out." I told her carefully, not wanting to hurt her feelings.

' _ **Yes Star can!'**_ She shouted at me, and jumped up next to Bulbasaur. She put her paw on his head and started radiating a pink energy. Bella stopped what she was doing, looked up and smiled.

"That's Heal Pulse!" She said happily. Quickly she went back to mashing the berry juice, and held Bulbasaur while it drank. After around ten more minutes, he started to stir. Star bounced down next to me, and smiled.

' _ **See? Star helped!'**_

"Yes bud, you gave us a hand. Here, take a rest." I said to her, and brought her back into her Pokeball. Slowly, Bulbasaur looked up at Bella and gave a start. He struggled slightly, but Bella laid a comforting hand on his head.

"Hey bud, take it easy. You need to rest." He relaxed, but looked confused. Bella continued stroking his head.

' _ **Who are you? What happened?'**_

"My name's Bella. I'm Alex's sister."

' _ **You got caught by Team Rocket. They're Pokemon thieves. They used you as a bait to get the rest of us, but Tele, Alex's Abra, teleported on to the balloon and set us free.'**_ Spark said, jumping next to him.

"Yeah. Spark and Ky got rid of Team Rocket for us."

' _ **Ky?'**_

"Oh, Kydyur's Alex's shiny Dratini. I forgot you hadn't met her yet." Melanie looked at Bella, surprised.

"Were you just answering Bulbasaur?"

"Was I?" Bella said, with vaguely mocked surprise. "I was just talking." Bulbasaur looked at me.

' _ **Where's Kydyur?'**_

"Hang on a minute, let me go get Ky." I told him. I opened the door. "Ky! Come and meet Bulbasaur!"

' _ **Coming Alex!'**_ She replied, sliding over and climbing onto the table next to the shiny Bulbasaur. ' _ **Hello. Are you feeling better now after that incident with Team Rocket?'**_

' _ **Yeah. Your friend told me about it.'**_ He said weakly, motioning slightly towards Bella.

' _ **Yeah. ThunderShock and Flamethrower is not a nice combo to be on the end of. Especially when it's mine.'**_ She said, smirking.

' _ **I would say so.'**_ Bulbasaur said, grinning at her.

' _ **Hey!'**_ Spark said, insulted. ' _ **I helped too!'**_

' _ **Yes, you did.'**_ Melanie giggled.

"They sure are a bunch, aren't they?"

"They do seem to be getting on well, don't they?" Bella grinned along with her.

"I say," Melanie said suddenly, turning to me. "Do you think that Bulbasaur would be a good addition to your team?" Bulbasaur, who had been listening to Spark and Ky argue, looked up in shock, and the girls stopped fighting.

"Well sure." I replied, shocked at the question myself. "But doesn't Bulbasaur guard this village?"

"Yes, but this place is supposed to be for the Pokemon to rest and then return to the wild. Bulbasaur does too good of a job, and most of the Pokemon don't want to leave. Also, he can't grow properly, because this place is too small. So, if you wouldn't mind, and if Bulbasaur doesn't mind, would you take him with you on your journey?"

"Sure thing!" I said happily. Bulbasaur looked sadly at Melanie.

' _ **I'm happy to go with Alex, but I'll miss you, Melanie.'**_

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll see each other again soon." Melanie reassured him. Star popped out of her ball again.

' _ **Don't worry! Alex told Star and brother Lunar that if they ever want to visit back home, we just need to tell her. Star knows she'll understand, so if you want to come home, we can tell Alex and come to visit!'**_

"Star? What is up with you randomly coming out of your Pokeball today?"

' _ **Star wants to help the new friends!'**_

"Ok. So, you want to join me?"

' _ **Yes please. But if you wouldn't mind, I want to battle you!'**_

"He said…"

"I know what he said. I can see it in his expression. Ok, you'll get your battle. Star, want to do the honors?"

' _ **Ok!'**_ Star smiled, skipping to my side. Bulbasaur struggled off the table as the girls went out the door. I could hear them talking to the others, explaining what was going on.

"Are you sure you'll be ok to battle?" I asked him worriedly.

' _ **I'll be fine.'**_ He said, but still seemed too weak to battle. Bella crouched down next to him, and held up another bowl.

"Here, this'll help." She said as he drank. I saw a small pink aura shine from below her hand that was on his back, and grinned. I took notice of Bella wearing the small amulet that she used to mimic Grace's powers. Grace had given it to her a while back, when she started her journey, as Grace and the others had been staying behind to help me, Leo and Crystal. So now she must be using it to help heal the little Bulbasaur faster, and couldn't really call out Grace to do it. He stretched out again, and looked at Bella appreciatively.

' _ **Thank you. I feel much better now. Let's have that battle!'**_ He said, happy to fight. We stood in the field, and I sent Star to fight.

"Ok, use DoubleSlap!"

' _ **Don't try that! Have a taste of my PoisonPowder!'**_ I knew that would be a problem if she got hit, so I blocked it.

"Disarming Voice to block it!"

' _ **Ouch!'**_ Bulbasaur shouted, glaring. ' _ **Here, have a Razor Leaf!'**_

"Star, use Sing!" I commanded her. She sang softly to the shiny, and he started dropping off to sleep. "Now hit it with a DoubleSlap while it sleeps!"

' _ **Gotcha!'**_ Star replied to me, whacking the shiny around the face. He was now weakened, but before I could catch him, he woke up and used Take Down on Star. Luckily for us, the recoil made him even weaker, but he still wasn't knocked out.

"Impressive. You sure are a powerful Pokemon. Well, it's time to catch you!" I said, throwing a Pokeball. He was hit on the head, and the ball shook a few times before clicking shut. I walked over and picked it up, then called out my newest Pokemon.

"Hey, welcome to the team. I'll think of a name for you later, but for now, that doesn't matter. Go and say goodbye to your friends now, while we get ready to go."

' _ **Ok.'**_ He said sadly, and ran to the other groups of Pokemon to say goodbye to his old friends. Melanie looked sad to see him go.

"Please look after him properly, won't you?"

"Of course. He'll be fine travelling with me. I'll make sure to bring him back for a visit whenever he wants to."

"Thank you." She said. I stood in silence next to her waiting for Bulbasaur to come back while the others got organised to leave. Star had gone back into her ball on her own, and I could hear the two Pikachu's and Ky talking excitedly in the background.

' _ **Isn't this great Ky? You have a shiny friend!'**_

' _ **Yeah, it is pretty cool.'**_

' _ **I'll be honest. I never expected to see any shinies on this trip, but now I know two!'**_

' _ **Maybe if you knew our luck, you wouldn't have been so stubborn about travelling with Ashy.'**_ Of course, Spark would pull that card. Pikachu looked about to start arguing, but he was stopped by the return of Bulbasaur.

' _ **I've said goodbye. Now, let's start this journey!'**_

"Alright. Come on girls, stop fighting with Pikachu and get ready to roll!" I called over my shoulder. Spark hopped up to me shoulder, and Ky slid into my backpack. I picked up Bulbasaur, planning on letting him see some more stuff outside of the forest before returning him.

' _ **Goodbye Melanie. I'll come back and visit you after I become stronger.'**_ He said, waving to her.

"Goodbye Bulbasaur. Do your best for your new trainer and try and evolve for us." She replied, patting him on the head. We turned around and walked out of the hidden village, waving goodbye to the others that stayed there. I had a sudden idea, and looked at the shiny in my arms.

"You know, I think I'll call you Deku. After all, you do get a cool flower when you evolve. What do you think?"

' _ **Deku… That sounds quite cool. It does sound Grass-like.'**_

"Well, I hope you enjoy this journey Deku."

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 **P: That one seemed a lot longer.**

 **SV: Yeah. Currently, I have ideas for the next few chapters, and only one has an 'extended' battle scene. I'm not that good at writing battles. *A Salamence flies into the studio.***

 **P: Eeeeeekkkkk! Dragon! Run! *Sprints off the side of the stage and runs out the door.***

 **SV: Trix, stop that right now. We are trying to do an outro here! *The Salamence lands beside the stage and fades, revealing Trixie.***

 **T: You're no fun.**

 **SV: Neither are you. Pixie, come back! It was just Trixie!**

 **P: I'll get you back for this.**

 **SV: Leave a review and that, I'll try and keep the long ones going.**


	13. Chapter 13

**-** **AN: Happy New Year! I know I'm late again but whatever. So… hello again guys! For some reason, I haven't seen the girls**

 **today. Hopefully they'll be back soon, but until then just enjoy the stor… *A huge crashing noise echos from off screen.* The heck was that? *A scream.* Ok, let's go find out. *The camera shakes slightly, then moves around.***

 **T: Shadow! Help!**

 **SV: *Mutters.* Oh Arceus. *Shouts.* What's wrong?**

 **T: *Crying.* Pixie was taking a walk and I looked out the window and a thing came and took her!**

 **SV: What was it?**

 **T: It looked like a Reshiram, but with red streaks along its back.**

 **SV: I know what that is… Guys, go read the story. I have a 'friend' I need to talk to. I don't own Pokemon.**

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 **Chapter 27.**

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We all were sitting down near a few huge rocks. All of our Pokemon had been sent out to relax too, and the older ones were talking with our newer Pokemon further away. I couldn't hear what they were saying, and I frankly didn't care. Today I just wanted to relax, and plan out my idea for the gym. After around half an hour, I started to get restless again. I stood and walked over to my team.

"Hey guys, feel like doing a little training? We need to get ready for the gym."

' _ **Sure!'**_ Deku said excitedly. ' _ **I'm eager to test myself with you!'**_

' _ **Would you like us to help, Alex?'**_ Sukima said, grinning.

"No, it's ok. Come on guys, we have so stuff to do." As we walked into the forest, Jade fluttered onto my head and spoke.

' _ **Aren't you going to train with Ash and Leo?'**_

"Nah, they have their own things, and own ways to train." Spark shivered slightly, as though remembering something. "Also, they deserve a rest."

' _ **And we don't?'**_ Deku said, outraged.

"Of course you do, but from what I've been hearing, trainers are going to be in some pretty bad trouble soon, and I don't want to have to rely on Amy, Bella and Crystal to help us. So I want us to be the best, so we can help everyone."

' _ **I understand.'**_ Deku replied more calmly. ' _ **But what would be the trouble?'**_

"Team Rocket. They've been more active lately, and tend to target trainer's Pokemon as they're more powerful and don't need training."

' _ **How stupid.'**_ Ky yawned. ' _ **They don't seem to realise that a trainer and Pokemon share a great bond, and won't turn against them so easily.'**_

' _ **Team Rocket?'**_

' _ **They're the ones who caught all of you before.'**_ Tele explained sleepily.

"Ok guys, we're here." I told them, standing in the center of the circle. "Now, Spark, you're the main priority here for training, so work with Ky to get Thunderbolt."

' _ **Why is she the main priority?'**_ Joey said, slightly angry.

"I'm using her for the gym, so she needs to be more powerful."

' _ **But I haven't had a battle with you yet!'**_ Deku said disappointedly.

"Well, why don't we do it now? Jade, pair with Joey. Tele, you can battle against Deku here."

' _ **But what about me?'**_

"Star, you help teach Spark Disarming Voice. It'll take a while, but I know you have the patience."

' _ **I won't disappoint you Alex!'**_ Star said happily, and went over to the others, who were standing near a rock on the edge of the field. I vaguely noted that Star had said 'I', not using her name, but I dismissed that for now. That didn't matter, after all. What matters now is that we get my Pokemon stronger.

"Arceus, what I wouldn't give to do a Game right now. That would make things easier. We could also do some teamwork training." I muttered, then stopped. Not a productive thing to say. "Ok guys, battle each other. I'll call you to stop when it's time to go."

' _ **Yes Ma'am!'**_ They shouted back. They started battling, but I could tell they were going easy on each other to make sure they didn't do too much damage to each other. I grinned at that; it's good that they cared about each other so much already.

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Around a half hour passed before I called the battles to a close. The four fighters were exhausted, so I called them back to their Pokeballs for a rest. I then walked over to the trio of Pokemon at the side.

"How'd it go?"

' _ **I got the hang of Thunderbolt quick.'**_

' _ **Yeah, but Spark is struggling with Disarming Voice.'**_ Star said sadly.

"Well, I don't think there's any way to fix that." Spark looked sad about that. "Don't worry bud, it isn't that important that you learn it. It would be good to have the type coverage, but it isn't any problem."

' _ **Ok.'**_ Spark smiled. I returned Star to her Pokeball, and Spark and Ky jumped up. I started walking back, and nearly ran into Ash and Pikachu.

"Oh! Ash! What are you doing here?"

"We're all ready to go, and Grace said you had gone training, so I came to find you."

"Ok. Let's go then, shall we?" We started to walk back, but I heard a cry. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Ash didn't seem to have noticed it. The cry broke out again, and then shouting.

"That. It sounded like a Pokemon."

"What?!" Ash yelped. "We should go and help it!"

"Stop." I told him calmly. "Tele, give us a hand."

' _ **What is it Alex? A battle?'**_

"No bud. We just heard a few cries. Can you see if you can look around if any Pokemon is hurt?"

' _ **Of course.'**_ Tele replied. He was silent for a few moments, glowing a faint blue aura. ' _ **I think that there is a Pokemon and human up ahead. I would recommend sending Spark to take a look, as I sense hostility from the human.'**_

"Ok. Thank you Tele. Spark, you heard all of that, right?"

' _ **Yeah. Give me a little while, I'll be back.'**_ She bounced off my shoulder, ready to run, but I stopped her.

"Wait a second." I pulled my bag open and located the charm box. I pulled out one of them. "Here. You can use this to send a signal that all Psychic types will detect, but you can direct it by saying their name first. If there's an injured Pokemon, stay by its side." Spark nodded, and sprinted off towards where Tele had sensed them. With nothing else to do, we sat down and waited.

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 **Chapter 28.**

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 ***Spark's POV.***

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I ran in the direction Tele had indicated, with the small weight of the charm around my neck. It had been from the same case that had saved me and Alex at the start of the journey. I heard a few voices up ahead, and changed paths, scaling a tree and hiding in the leaves.

' _ **Stupid little weakling! You can't even beat an Oddish, you pathetic excuse for a Fire type!'**_ A loud slap echoed around the area. I gasped slightly. Because I was treated so well, I somehow find it hard to believe that people abuse Pokemon.

"I'll… I'll try harder, I swear! Just don't keep hurting us!" The poor Pokemon cried out in pain.

' _ **Stupid baby. Can't take a little slap, huh?'**_ The boy laughed at it. ' _ **I'll just leave you here. I have no use for a weakling, especially not one so strange as**_ **you!** ' I peeked through the leaves I was hiding behind and was shocked to see the boy smash a Pokeball in his hands, and drop it on the floor. ' _ **Enjoy what's left of you're stupid life.'**_ He sneered as he walked away. I moved my eyes to the Pokemon on the floor, and first took in the fact that it seemed close to passing out, if not worse. My eyes then widened as I saw it was a shiny Charmander. I remembered Alex telling me that most trainers would do anything to get a shiny. _This kid must know nothing about Pokemon._ I reflected. I shook that thought off, and leaped next to the Charmander.

"Please… please help me." It… make that _he_ whimpered. I grabbed the charm around my neck, remembering how Alex had used one of them to bring Bella, Amy and Crystal back to help with a seriously injured Pokemon.

"Tele, I found it. Get the group here, pronto! If you can, alert the others. We'll need Bella." I said into it, knowing Tele would pick it up and come running to us. I looked at the sad Pokemon next to me and sat down, using the same method of petting that Bella used to calm Deku. "Don't worry, I've called in my team. They'll be here as soon as possible. Try and hold out 'til then."

"Please don't send me back to Damian." He cried, both in pain and fear. "I don't want to go back."

"Don't worry. I won't let him take you back, or let anyone harm you." I sniffed around, and located the scent of Oran Berries. I stood, and quickly ran to the bush, picked a few and ran back in record time. Alex had instructed me not to leave the Pokemon's side, so I would stick to him. I tried feeding him the berries, but he couldn't eat.

"Come on, these will help until the others arrive."

"I can't." He cried. I sighed slightly, then got a rock and used Iron Tail to carve some wood from the tree. I shaped it into a bowl, and crushed the berries into a juice like Bella had for Deku. I slowly had him drink the juice, knowing otherwise he may not last until the others get here. I repeated this again, and he was now slightly better.

"Did you have a name before you were caught by that son of a Giratina?"

"No. I was just brother Charmander. Or the 'weird one', because I was yellow. It was only a few of the younger Pokemon that called me that because the adults said I was special and rare, but I don't know why."

"You're what is known to humans as a shiny Pokemon. They aren't much different, but most trainers do literally anything for them. Bragging rights, I guess."

"Wow!" He seemed amazed. "How do you know so much about humans?"

"Well..." I started, then froze. "Someone's coming."

"Oh no!" He cried. "Damian might be coming back!" I stood in battle position, crackling with electricity.

"They won't get passed me. I promise." I told him, facing the bushes the noise was coming from. A few seconds later, a Pikachu burst through.

"Is he part of your team?" The Charmander asked when I relaxed.

"Of a sort." I replied. "Pikachu! The others coming?"

"On the way. Ash went to get the others."

"Who's Ash? Another Pikachu?"

"No. Ash is my trainer." Pikachu replied. Immediately, he shrieked.

"Oh no! They'll try and take me back to Damian!"

"No they won't." I reassured him, while shooting a glare at my 'little brother'. "It's thanks to Alex, my trainer, that we knew there was a problem." As I said that, Alex burst through and I ran to her.

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 **Chapter 29.**

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 ***Alex's POV***

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' _ **Miss Alex. Spark says she has found the Pokemon. We should go. She also said to bring Bella.'**_

"Thank you." I turned to Ash. "Run back and get Bella. Grace will be able to track Tele's Psychic aura, so you can follow behind." Ash nodded.

"Ok. Pikachu, go along with Alex." He nodded, and Ash turned to sprint to the others.

"Lead on, you two."

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We sprinted through the woods, Tele pointing us in the right direction. Pikachu ran through first, and I heard words being exchanged. When I came out of the bushes, I saw Spark run over.

' _ **Miss Alex! The shiny Charmander was abused and abandoned. He doesn't trust humans or trainers much.'**_ I took in the condition of the shiny Charmander and nodded. I crouched down next to him.

"Hey bud. You'll be just fine soon. When Bella gets here, we can get you to a Pokemon Center. But for now…" I reached to my belt, pulling out Star's Pokeball. He looked scared, but I released Star and he relaxed.

' _ **What do I need to do Miss Alex?'**_ Charmander looked worried at the fact that my Pokemon called me 'Miss', but I dismissed it.

"I need you to heal this Charmander. He was hurt, and I want it healed."

' _ **Yes Miss Alex!'**_ She said. She put her hand on his head and used Heal Pulse. A few moments later, she sighed in frustration. ' _ **Miss Alex, some of these wounds are infected. Not badly, but enough to stop me healing him perfectly. We need to find a Pokemon Center.'**_ I was worried when she said that, but the others arrived at that time.

"Let me see it." Bella said, pushing through. She put her hand on his head and did a similar thing to what Star had done. She pulled back, worried. "This isn't in good condition. One of you two," She said, pointing to Ash and Leo. "Need to catch him so we can get him to the Pokemon Center." She looked at the Charmander, who was slowly crawling away. "Don't worry." She said in a calming tone. "We can release you after you're healed. It's just temporary, so then you won't get any worse. The Pokeball will slow down the infection rate."

' _ **Oh… ok.'**_ Bella nodded to Ash, and he pulled out a Pokeball and tapped him on the head. He went into the ball and it didn't even shake once before it clicked. He must have been extremely weak. Bella took the lead, and the others ran off. I stopped for a second.

"Star?"

' _ **Yes Miss Alex?'**_

"When did you become a medical genius? And you also use first person now. How come?"

' _ **Bella taught me a few things. And I've started using first person because the others do, so I didn't want to stand out when I spoke.'**_

"Ok. Here, return." I brought her back to her Pokeball, and ran to the others.

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** They reached the Pokemon Center slightly before me, and we walked in. Luckily there were no other trainers there, and we walked quickly to the desk. I handed in all my Pokemon, and Ash handed in Charmander.

"This one's really badly hurt. Some of his wounds are infected." Joy looked extremely serious, and handed the Pokeballs, Ky and Spark to some Chansey.

"What in Arceus's name did you do to make that poor thing so hurt?! As it's trainer, you should have looked after it better!"

"Hey!" I said, interrupting her. "Ash wasn't his trainer. He was being abused by another. I heard him crying out, and Spark went to investigate with Tele. They found him being abused, and Tele teleported back to get us while Spark stayed to take care of him. Ash only caught him to get him to this Center without attracting attention from people." I lied slightly to hide the fact we can understand Pokemon. Joy looked shocked.

"Do you know who the trainer was?"

"I don't know, but we could ask Spark. She should know."

"Ok. Shall I get her?"

"If it can't wait, then sure. Though I don't think she'll mind." Joy walked around the back, and then came back a few seconds later with Spark. Grace popped out of her Pokeball to act as a translator, even though we didn't need one. It was so it didn't seem strange that we could talk to Pokemon.

"Spark dear. Can you tell us who that trainer was? The one who had Charmander."

' _ **Charmander said that his name was Damian.'**_ I looked to Grace to 'translate'.

' _Apparently, the dumb kid's name was Damian. You know, I really wish we didn't do this, but I know it's for safety.'_ I nodded.

"Spark said that his name is Damian."

"I knew it." Joy said angrily. "Whenever he brings his Pokemon in, they always seemed seriously hurt and weak."

"Don't worry about him. I think I have a good way to deal with him." I looked to Bella, grinning. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Sure am. Grace, you don't mind, do you?"

' _Of course not, Miss Bella. I look forward to punishing him with a round. Can I replicate a Mew Game? Or one of the others we have studied?'_

"A Mew Game, I think." I looked to Joy to see her standing there gaping at us.

"A Mew Game? But you need the mythical Pokemon Mew to do that!"

"Yep. But Grace, Bella and myself have been studying these things, so Grace can replicate one. We won't be too mean, just enough to teach him a lesson. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course I do, but I don't want to see him get away with abusing his Pokemon."

"Ok. When our teams come back, we can deal with him. Does he come here regularly?"

"Often. Mostly complaining about how weak his Pokemon are. You should be able to catch him." I was about to question her more, but a ding stopped me. "Your Pokemon are fully healed."

"Thank you. Ash, Bella, can I borrow Charmander and Grace? I want to talk to Charmander." Both of them nodded, so I took Charmander's Pokeball along with my own and went to the roof, Grace following behind. I released Charmander.

"Grace, keep an eye out, will you? I need to talk in peace."

' _ **Of course my friend.'**_ She smiled at me.

"Charmander, we have an idea. But first, how badly did Damian treat you and his other Pokemon?"

' _ **Really bad. He forced us to keep battling for hours, without any rest.'**_ I growled slightly at that, but stayed calm.

"Great." He looked at me, confused. "One more thing. Feel like being a Charizard? Temporarily, of course."

' _ **Sure, but how?'**_

"Grace can replicate a Mew Game. We plan on trapping Damian in one, and having him fight against stronger Pokemon as a 'weak' one. Do the others hate him as much?"

' _ **Yes. But we couldn't voice that, in fear Damian would guess what we said and treat us worse.'**_

"Brilliant. Right, we'll fully evolve you and the others to your strongest forms and give you infinite stamina, so it's impossible to K.O. you. It's only temporary, but it should give Damian a taste of his own medicine. Be as rough as you want, but don't kill him." Charmander nodded, and Ash walked up behind me.

"Ready to do this?"

"Yeah."

' _Hey Alex.'_ Grace said. ' _Aren't you forgetting something?'_

"Oh yeah!" I smiled at Ash. "When she makes the Mew Game, Grace will turn us into Pokemon." Ash looked distressed at that, and I rushed to reassure him. "Don't worry, it's only temporary. We'll all be Ditto, so we can look human and understand Pokemon."

"But you guys can do that anyway."

"It may also be so we can join the fun." I smiled mischievously. "But now you know."

' _Alex, Ash. I think Damian is coming to the Center.'_ Grace informed us. Charmander shrank back, and I patted him.

"Don't worry, he can't hurt you. If it'll make you feel safer, I can put you in the Pokeball."

' _ **Ok.'**_ He nodded. I returned him.

"Grace, we need to take his Pokemon in there first. Then I can fill them in." She nodded, and the three of us walked down to the others. Grace then set up a world for our little game, and got ready to teleport us. We sat down so as not to seem odd, and waited.

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A few minutes after sitting down, Damian walked in and dropped his Pokeballs on the desk, the went over to a set of chairs on the other side of the room. Joy walked out to the healing machines, and came out a minute later. She caught my eye and nodded, and Grace flared, teleporting everyone in the area to her game.

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 **Chapter 30.**

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Five Ditto stood before me, with our teams around us. Damian's Pokemon were still in their Pokeballs, but there was enough shock from the others, who hadn't seen this before.

' _ **What? How?!'**_ They screeched, but Spark, Rema and Ky looked slightly nervous.

' _ **Ok Alex, what're we doing?'**_ Spark sighed lightly. I used Ditto's Transform to look like myself, and the others did too. Except Ash, who didn't know how. Amy instructed him while I briefed everyone.

"This Charmander's trainer is abusive to his Pokemon, so we're teaching him a lesson. Grace has swapped him to an Eevee, and we'll fully evolve the lot of Damian's team as a punishment, and if you want you can help. Just don't kill him." Our teams grinned, and I released the other five of Damian's Pokemon, as Charmander was already out, even if he wasn't his Pokemon anymore. They looked frightened, seeing all of the Pokemon grouped around them. Not surprising, with what Charmander was telling me about how they were made to battle. They probably fear that they are going to be forced to battle with them as 'training'. It was a Graveler, Croconaw, Grotle, Raticate and Aerodactyl, and I quickly explained what we would do, just as I had with the others. They grinned evilly.

' _ **Brilliant.'**_ The Aerodactyl growled. ' _ **He hates to be thought of as being cute. So when will we do this?'**_

"Now." Amy smiled. "Grace, will you do the honors?"

' _ **Of course I will.'**_ Grace glowed blue, and all of the not fully evolved Pokemon caught by Damian glowed the white of evolution, as did Charmander. When the light faded, a Golem, Feraligatr, Torterra and shiny Charizard stood in place of the others.

"Ok, you guys go have fun with your friend. Don't be _too_ mean, mind." Bella told them, almost like a mother.

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 ***Around three hours later…***

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Damian had left the Center a long time ago, along with his reverted Pokemon. I don't think he'll be abusing them ever again. We had released Charmander too, because we thought it would be better to give him a life in the wild, without the need to battle for a trainer. We were organising our stuff and leaving when some little footsteps ran behind us. I turned around to see the shiny Charmander we had released earlier.

' _ **Please slow down! I'm not that fast!'**_ This shout caught the other's attention, even the Pokespeech deaf Ash, and they turned too. I crouched down next to the little one as he caught his breath.

"What's wrong? I thought you were going to the wild." Ash asked.

' _ **I want to travel with you.'**_ He replied. ' _ **I wanted to see the world, and I can tell that you are nice trainers. So if you wouldn't mind Ash, can I travel with you? I want to be a Charizard again some day, hopefully for real.'**_ I quickly translated to Ash what Charmander had said, and he nodded.

"Sure thing. Here, let me re-catch you then. I'll even give you a different name; Blitz."

' _ **That sounds cool! I'm Blitz now!'**_ Ash knew he liked it from his reaction, and tapped him on the head. Just like before, it didn't shake at all before clicking shut. Ash smiled, and I knew that the poor little Charmander had found a good person to call his trainer.

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 **AN: *Growling slightly.* Where the heck is that stupid little Reshiram. I need a word with her. *A black form swoops down, landing.***

 **Robyn: Hey Shadow, what's up?**

 **SV: You know what's up, you little demon. Where's Pixie?**

 **R: Oh, the Vulpix? She's at the Tower. I'll go and fetch her. *Takes off once again.***

 **SV: Well, seeing as we have some time, I may as well talk. First, the POV swap will only happen occasionally, maybe when nothing is happening for one person or they have been split up. It's more likely for these to be backstories, but it'll depend. Second, these Games will be occurring more as the story goes on, and in more detail, but for now, there's nothing. Third and final thing; I'll be doing backstories to the Pokemon on every team if they have something interesting to tell. These will mostly be cropping up later, as I have them planned for different points in the story. *A black shadow crosses over and Pixie jumps down.***

 **P: Hey Shadow. Where's Trix at?**

 **SV: Where's she? Well currently she's at home crying because YOU GOT KIDNAPPED BY A RESHIRAM!**

 **P: Wait, really? It was just a prank to get her back for last week.**

 **SV: That was a prank? Well I give up! *Walks towards home.* Both of you are grounded for two weeks. *Looks to viewers.* I'll be alone next week, so I'll see you then.**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Ok folks, I'm alone today because the girls are grounded from the last two weeks antics. Nothing special here today, so I'll remind you that I don't own Pokemon and let you continue with the story.**

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 **Chapter 31.**

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Relaxing again. I wasn't a huge fan when it came to just chilling when we had a job to do, but I suppose that we did deserve it. Our Pokemon especially. After all, they had been training hard these last few days in preparation for the gym. At some point, I'll train Deku properly. I think I should use him for the gym in Celadon, even though it is a Grass type gym. On the other hand, I'm using Spark in an Electric gym, and at least Deku is part Poison, so he is naturally resists Grass type attacks by four times. Hopefully Spark will do ok. I mean, Spark is pretty powerful, and she does have some decent attacks to use against an Electric type Pokemon, so we should do fine. At least I taught her Dig, which will be useful against the gym. Speaking of Spark, she sat up next to me and growled slightly.

' _ **Ah great. Miss Alex, we have a few gangsters incoming.'**_ Just as she said that, five jets of water came flying at us. Luckily for us, Ky heard what Spark had said and jumped in front of me and used Ice Beam to block the water that was heading towards me and my team beside me. The others were helped by Grace and Sukima using Psychic and Dragon Pulse, which broke the water jet that was aimed at them. The group of Squirtles laughed.

"Spark, time to test your new power on that attack!" I commanded, slightly irritated by the attack. "Volt combo, go!"

' _ **Yes Alex! I'll deal with them!'**_ She charged into them, crashing into the lead turtle, which I now noticed to be shiny with… sunglasses? Now I look, they all have them.

 _Now that is ridiculous._ I mused. _All three of the starter Pokemon from this region, and all in shiny too! That is insanely lucky._ I was brought out of this thought by the Squirtles yelling.

' _ **That's ridiculous! A Pikachu shouldn't have that much power!'**_ One yelped.

' _ **What should we do Boss?'**_ Another asked.

' _ **Retreat for now.'**_ The female Squirtle ordered. ' _ **I think I hear police.'**_ They scarpered, and a few moments later Officer Jenny came around the corner, a Growlithe in the sidecar.

"Did you six just get caught by the Squirtle Squad?" She said, looking over the puddle and arched icicle in front of us.

"Yep." I replied. Bella sighed slightly.

"Those are still here? It's been a year and a half."

"I noticed they have a new leader, though." Amy said, thoughtful. "I wonder what happened?"

"That's something you'd have to ask them."

"The Squirtle Squad?" Ash asked, clueless.

"It's a group of Squirtle." Crystal explained patiently. "Something happened in the past and they aren't a huge fan of humans, or Pokemon that have trainers."

"Well, so long as you kids are ok, I'll get back to my job." Jenny drove off, with her Growlithe barking next to her. Ky raised her head and sniffed at something.

' _ **What the? A Ditto? Here?'**_

"A Ditto?" Leo looked at her. "Are you sure?"

' _ **Pretty positive.'**_

"That's correct little Dratini." A voice said from the forest. They chuckled lightly at our surprise as they stepped out. "How are you guys?"

"Diana?" I questioned. "I didn't think you were around here?"

"Yeah, well." She shrugged. "I decided to travel around as a trainer for a little while. It's been quite fun honestly. I love playing with them, and meeting new friends."

"Wait, stop, hold on." Ash shouted at us. "Didn't Ky say a Ditto? Does she have a Ditto on her or something? Or is there something I don't know?" Diana gave Amy a look that clearly said 'Really?' Amy just shook her head, and Di sighed.

"I _am_ the Ditto, friend. I normally live in Hoenn with a friend, and he taught me how to speak human in this form, so I decided to journey." Ash looked like he didn't believe her, and she shook her head. "Just watch." She glowed a muffled white for a second, a hard thing to pick up, so Ash probably didn't notice it. A Ditto took her place, and then that was replaced by a shiny Charmander. I had forgotten the rest of our teams were out, and there was plenty of shock from the Pokemon, and Ash.

' _ **Told you so.'**_ She said smugly, before swapping back, giggling at everyone's reactions. Bella was thinking about something, and looked to Di.

"Hey Di, would you give us a hand? There's a Squirtle Squad annoying people, being pranksters and the like. Would you mind giving us a hand with them?"

"Sure." Di shone again, and transformed into a Ditto to a Squirtle.

"Question?" Ash said to us. "Why can't she go from human to Squirtle? Why does she need to be a Ditto first?"

"A Ditto can't go from a human shape to Pokemon straight away. No clue why, but they can't." Bella replied, the most knowledgeable of the group once again. I passed Di one of the charms from my bag, and she walked off, heading towards the place the Squad had ran off to.

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 **Chapter 32.**

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 ***Diana's POV.***

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I walked towards the place Amy had motioned to, and hid the charm Alex had given me in my shell. It was smart of her to be carrying them around, Bella had given me a few once and they had helped me out a few times. As a Ditto, I could pick up the Psychic aura that the charm used to transmit the messages, and it had helped out a few times in my travels. That said, I had to stay as a Squirtle for this job, and while Squirtle wasn't my favorite Pokemon, I now am stuck with it. At least if I keep it hidden, I can send little messages to the others. I found a nice little rock by a pond and sat down, looking as forlorn as possible. It wasn't long before a Squirtle came walking down the road. I looked quite small, like a newly hatched Pokemon, and when it caught sight of me it did a double take. It then walked over to me and hopped next to me on the rock.

"Hey there little bud." He said quietly, in a comforting way. "What's wrong?"

"Mr Zorander left me here." I sniffed. Arceus I hate having to act like a baby, but it's necessary.

"Who's that?"

"My trainer." This sent to turtle fuming.

"A trainer abandoned a baby! Those little…" He faded off into dark muttering. I looked up in shock and shook my head.

"No, no, no! Zorander said he'd be back from his errands in a little while!"

"Listen deary." He said calmingly. "He abandoned you. Come with me, and I'll take you to my home." He hopped off the rock and gave me a hand down. I have to admit, for a gang member he has pretty good manners. I let him hold my hand as we walked, and he led me to a huge rock. As we walked, I looked up at the sun and noted it was near dark. Dang, I may have to wait until tomorrow to get the others properly. Ah well, this gives me more time to get the others more information on the Squad. I hate spying on fellow Pokemon, but I'll do anything for my friends. The little turtle took me to a lake by the rock,

and looked at me worriedly.

"You _do_ know how to swim, right?" I nodded, though secretly I was kind of worried. I didn't do too much as a Water type Pokemon, so I wasn't a great swimmer. I was good as a human, but I can't switch and blow my cover. He dove into the lake, and I followed behind. I watched him swim towards a small opening in the rock on the lake bed, and quickly swam after him. We entered the tunnel, and swam forward for a long time. He pulled into an alcove, and I followed him. It gave us a little room to breathe, and he started talking.

"The Boss doesn't like trainers that ditch their Pokemon."

"Why?" I was curious about this; maybe I could send it on to the others.

"She had a pretty bad encounter with some trainers before. All five of us were abandoned, so we formed this group to get back at mean trainers who ditch their Pokemon. But we _do_ sometimes prank towns, as well as wandering trainers." He looked at me, and then down the tunnel we were swimming along. "We don't have much further to go, so we just keep going along here. You ok to keep swimming?"

"Sure." I was tried, and I'm sure he could tell, but he nodded. He dove back into the water, and I followed behind.

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After around five minutes more, we broke out of the tunnel we were swimming in. I looked around as I tried to catch my breath. It was a small room, big enough for us to get around but small enough that no human could ever get in. I don't think it would be possible for them to swim that far anyway, though maybe… Nevermind that now. The Squirtle I had been following grabbed my arm again and led me through a small tunnel to a main room. I surveyed this one too, and noted that there was no entrance besides the one we came through. This was a Distortion World of a secret base. I'll need to tell the others about this. They might be able to get in, maybe break the wall or something. The other turtles were in the corner of the room, and the shiny one turned. A shiny, huh? I wonder what the deal is with that.

"Good to see you Four." Four? So she just refers to them numerically. Easy to remember, I suppose. "Did you hit the place?"

"No Boss!" He said, saluting. "I was heading there when I came across this youngling on the road. She was left there by her trainer. I couldn't let a little girl stay out there on her own, so I dropped the mission and brought her back here."

"I see." She said thoughtfully. Then she held out her hand. "Well, it'll be good to have another female on the team."

"Thank you." I replied shyly, shaking her hand.

"Well, we still need to hit the town, so Five," She stated, pointing to me. "You go with Three and Four to hit the place." The other two she mentioned stepped forwards. "One, Two, you're coming with me."

"Where to, Boss?"

"Those trainers that beat us back earlier." I perked up at that. "They'll be asleep soon, it's almost night. We can hit them while they're asleep. You three, take the back exit and head to the city. We'll take the other exit." We nodded, and I followed the other two around a rock and out of a small entrance. Nice, we can use that. We sprinted to Cerulean, and stopped at the entryway.

"Five," Three said. "What attacks do you have?"

"Tackle, Tail Whip and Water Gun." I told them, keeping the illusion that I was a child.

"That all?" I nodded. "Right, you go and hit a few stores. Keep on the run after you flood them, you don't want to get caught. We'll hit some bigger targets." I nodded again, and ran off to a store, secretly grinning. I pulled the charm out and curved around the building.

"Alex, you guys had better watch out. There are three of the Squirtle Squad coming your way, to get you back for earlier. I have to work with the other two to prank the town, so I'll make a mess then run on back and hide near the base. Be careful. The Squad has a cave that has two entrances; either through the lake near the rock and swim for around ten minutes or so, or a small hole in the rock at the back. It's hard to get in though. I need to go, see you around." I knew they'd get it, so I tucked it away and ran into a nearby building.

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 ***Alex's POV.***

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' _Guys, Diana said that she's having to do pranks on the town because she's in the gang. There's two ways in their base; either a ten minute swim underwater, or a very small back entrance.'_

"Thanks Grace." Bella said. "Anything else?"

' _The fact that three of the Squirtle Squad are coming to prank us when we fall asleep as revenge for earlier. Do you want me to stay out as a guard?'_

"No. I'll let Deku and Tele do it." I told her.

' _ **Sure thing Alex!'**_ They were happy to help us out.

"Ok you two. We'll get our camp up and then you'll be on watch. Just pretend to sleep or something and then deal with them when they get here. Feel free to spread Sleep Powder on Confusion or anything. I don't really care, just frighten them away." The two boys grinned, and went to sit by the edge of our designated camp spot. We set up our tents in a circle, with our entrances facing the center. That would make it harder for the Squirtles to get in our camp. But we still may have a problem with the Squad. I have no idea what we're going to do with them, but maybe we can shut them down. Crystal yawned, and we wandered into the tents. Before I went in, I looked to the boys who would keep a guard. "Are you two sure that you'll be ok with this?"

' _ **We'll be fine Alex.'**_ Deku said proudly.

' _ **Don't worry.'**_ Tele yawned. ' _ **I'll be sure to spread out the Sleep Powder and knock them out.'**_ I was still worried, but was sure that they'll be able to do the job well. I ducked into my tent also, and lay down, waiting for those silly pranksters to come along.

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 ***Diana's POV.***

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I sprinted out of third building I had went to, being chased by a few people from the place I just flooded. The others should be done in a second, so I started running towards the gate we had come through. Squirtle weren't very fast Pokemon, so I was lucky that it had a slope down to the area. As I reached the edge of the hill, I pulled myself into my shell and went skidding straight towards the place. I could hear the people behind me shouting, and I grinned slightly knowing there was no way they would catch me. I flew out the gate, and landed in the bushes. I popped out of my shell and peeked through the bushes to see Three and Four slid out in the same manner as me and I ran out, starting down the road. As a 'baby', I was slower than the others, and they caught up to me.

"You two do ok then?"

"Sure did. What about you?"

"Hit three stores before I had to run. Speaking of running," I told them, looking over my shoulder. "We have an officer coming."

"We aren't fast enough to outrun them." Three said worriedly. I had an idea.

"Quick, withdraw into your shells and use Water Gun to jet yourself to the rock and hide." I said hurriedly, and followed through with my idea. I sent myself flying to the base, floating down and landing next to the lake. The others did the same, and we ran around the back to the hidden entrance. I put a few rocks in front of the hole to make sure that Growlithe couldn't squeeze through. I turned and grinned at the other two members of the group, and we sat on the little pile of cushions in the corner that the Squad must have nicked from a house and waited for the One, Two and the Boss to return. We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I had a thought.

"Hey, you guys know my story, but what about you and the others? Why are you here?"

"Well, we don't know the Boss' story, but I'm here because I was ditched by my trainer because I was weak." Three told me.

"I was captured by some strange goons." Four added. "My trainer didn't care when I went back, so I left him. You'd have to ask the others yourself." I opened my mouth to ask a few more questions, but was stopped by a splash. We all turned around as the Boss came running in, with One and Two behind her.

"What happened?" Three questioned. "How did it go?"

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 ***Deku's POV.***

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I was keeping guard at the tents, with Tele floating next to me. He hadn't spoken this entire time, and it was making me a little on edge. Even so, I was careful not to be too jumpy, just in case they came. That promise to myself was broken in around five minutes, when a friend of ours just appeared next to us.

"Hey. Any sight of them yet?" Sukima said, crouching down.

"Jeez, how did you do that?" I sighed.

"Speed and silence training, along with a good ability to blend into darkness. Well, except the star." She shrugged.

"We've had no sign of them." I told her.

"Though I can feel three presences on the road, about a mile down." Tele informed us.

"Want some help getting rid of them?" Sukima grinned like a shark… well, she _is_ a land shark.

"Sure thing. What will you do though?" As far as I knew, Sukima had no good moves to scare them away.

"In all honesty, they'll probably run if I just turn up. Not many Pokemon want to hang around with a Garchomp, especially not an angry one." She told us. "But we'll go with your thing first. Sure you can do it Tele?"

"Of course." He replied, determined. Sukima nodded, and jumped into a group of trees that could support her weight. ' _Guys, they're coming down the road.'_ Tele informed us. ' _Sukima, keep hidden. Me and Deku will deal with them. If we need your help, I'll call.'_ I nodded at him, moving into the shadows of the tents with Tele beside me, and lay down, looking sleepy. Tele was good at doing that anyway. It's kind of Abra's thing. I watched carefully as three Squirtles, one of them shiny, peeked around the trees.

"Alright you two, that's their camp." The shiny said. "One, run round to the back left. Two, back right. I'll take the front." The two non-shiny Squirtles nodded and ran around the area. I looked worriedly at Tele; this wasn't part of the plan.

 _Don't worry. Just use Sleep Powder and I can wisp it to the other Pokemon.'_ Tele reassured me. ' _Sukima, I'll use the Sleep Powder to scare them around the front. Can you get rid of them from there?'_

"Of course I can." She whispered to us. Dang ninja. She flew up to the sky, and hovered in a dark patch so she wouldn't be seen. Tele used Confusion in a small blast, and I used Sleep Powder. The Confusion made it a little bubble of powder, and that split into three, before floating over to them and exploding. The three turtles coughed and sprinted for the road, where they ran straight into Sukima. She grinned evilly. "I see you're attempting to prank my trainer and team. Sure you still want to do that?" They looked up scared at her, then the two in the back looked at their boss. She shook her head and they sprinted off. Sukima gave us a devilish grin, and started flying after them. Now that I think of it, _how_ does a Garchomp fly? I'm pretty sure it shouldn't do that. As I was watching the three members of the Squirtle Squad get chased by Sukima, Tele turned around and grinned.

"Hello Alex. Did we disturb you with the noise?" I turned too, and she patted us both on the head before replying.

' _ **No, I woke up when I heard Sukima come out to join you.'**_ She looked around. ' _ **Where is she, anyway?'**_

"Sorry Alex, I was pranking the pranksters." She said from behind Alex. If she was surprised, she didn't show it when she turned and patted her too.

' _ **Good job.'**_

"Hey, I wanted to ask, how can Garchomp fly?" I questioned. "She isn't flying type." Alex pulled out her Pokedex and pointed it at Sukima.

"Garchomp, the Mach Pokemon, and the evolved form of Gabite. When it folds up it's body and extends its wings, it looks like a jet plane. It flies at sonic speeds. I would have thought you knew this Alex, seeing as you lived with it most of your life." I stared at it, as did Tele. Alex just shook her head.

' _ **I do. It was for the others.'**_

"Fair enough. I would like to be a little more useful though."

' _ **Don't worry. It'll be that time soon.'**_ She put it back in her little bag at her side.

"Alex? Your Pokedex sounded like a Porygon. Or something of the sort." Tele said. Alex exchanged a glance with Sukima, and whispered something to her. She nodded, and Alex smiled.

' _ **Come on. They won't be coming back tonight.'**_ She beckoned us to the tent, and I looked at Sukima curiously.

"What was that about?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Now go on, get some rest." Sukima walked into Bella's tent, and we went to Alex's. She returned us to our Pokeballs for the rest of the night.

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 **Chapter 33.**

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 ***Diana's POV.***

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The Boss finished telling us what had happened, and then sighed.

"Come on guys, we may as well go to sleep. We may be able to get them in the morning. Bait them or something." We all retreated into our shells and slept.

The next morning, I woke up before everyone else. I slipped outside and hurried into the forest, where I swapped to Ditto, and then my human shape. Arceus, I love being human again. I stretched out, happy to be out of the tiny turtle shape. I walked around here for a bit, planning to return before the others awoke. Actually… I ran back to Alex's camp. I could spend some time there, then run to Cerulean and jet from there, so it looks like I left to prank the town. I arrived to see Spark and Ky standing around. I gave them a hug.

' _ **Hey Diana! I didn't think I'd see you yet!'**_

"I came to talk. The rest of the Squad are still asleep, so I thought I could break cover for a while. Where's Alex?"

' _ **She went out with Sukima and the rest of her team.'**_ Kydyur said. ' _ **I think it's so they can do a little specialised training, among other things.'**_ I nodded, and Crystal came over.

"Hey Di. How's things?"

"The rest of the Squad are still asleep, so I came over to say hi."

"Sure thing. Stay around a while. The Squad will probably be back, but you can leave to get back to them later." I nodded, and sat down with the rest of the group and had breakfast with them. At some point later on, Alex came back with Sukima and joined the group. We asked her where she went, but she just told me 'training' and stopped there. Suddenly, I perked up and froze.

"What's up Di?" Amy asked.

"Squirtle Squad. They're coming down the road." I said.

"Any idea why?" Bella questioned.

"I think they want to bait you to the base to beat you." I told them. "Shall I go?"

"If you want." Leo said. That was enough for me. I stood up and transformed, then ran in the direction of Cerulean. I saw that they were heading to the camp quite slowly, and hurried to catch up.

"Five!" The Boss scolded. "Where were you?"

"I got up early and thought I could make a little trouble in the city."

"Ok. Come on, we're going to bait those trainers." I nodded, and followed them. When they came into sight, we all used Water Gun to drench their tents, and then ran off. They jumped up and followed us, and I turned to see Bella instructing Grace to quickly pack up the tents and equipment, and they followed the others. I was slightly worried. I don't think they would battle us, and we would get wiped out if they did. We made it back to the base and dove into the pool. When we got to the tunnel, I stopped and looked back to see a purple streak come after us. Alex had sent Kydyur to get us. As far as I knew, none of them had a Water type that could fit in here. I kept swimming, and underneath me a purple flash went straight past us all. She must have used Extreme Speed to get in front of us. I wonder what her plan is. The rest of the group didn't seem to notice her, and just kept going. We were swimming faster than me and Four had when I first came here, and burst out of the water. The Boss ran towards the central room, and called back to us.

"We can wait here until the trainers get here, then pop out and prank them." We snickered, until we entered the room to see the others were already there. "What! How?" Alex smiled.

' _ **I sent Kydyur to break a hole in the wall. Now,'**_ She grinned. ' _ **You need to stop pranking people.'**_

"That isn't going to happen!" The Boss yelled. "Squirtle Squad, attack!" I hesitated for a second, not wanting to hurt my friends, but Bella gave me a nod. _Don't worry_ it seemed to say. I pulled into my shell for a Tackle attack, and Spark looked ready to let loose a Thunderbolt, but we all froze at a loud explosion. Three figures stood in another doorway, and ran off a motto. Crystal just facepalmed.

' _ **Ok. Idiot squad is back.'**_

' _ **Hey!'**_ The pink haired one yelled. ' _ **We aren't dumb! Now, hand over your Pokemon!'**_

' _ **Nope.'**_ Alex said calmly. The Meowth pressed a button.

' _ **Then we'll take 'em from you!'**_ A huge arm came out and grabbed at Spark, Kydyur and Pikachu, and threw them into a cage. It then moved and grabbed at us. I moved out of the way, but the rest of the Squirtle Squad was caught. I kept hidden as the laughed.

' _ **Come on you two!'**_ The one with blue hair shouted. ' _ **Let's go while the going's good!'**_ They ran to a balloon landed outside, and the arm picked up the cage my friends were in. Alex looked at me.

' _ **Di! Go!'**_ I nodded my understanding and ran out after them. As I did, I used Transform and became a Pidgeot, taking off after them. The rest of the Squirtle Squad saw my transformation, and looked at me in shock. I ignored them, and used Tailwind to catch up, and opened the box with Hurricane. I used Aerial Ace to slice the balloon, sending it flying upside down and the Pokemon inside fell out. I swooped and caught most of them, but I missed the Boss. She fell too fast for me to catch her. I dove, but saw a Pidgeotto catch her, and leveled out next to her.

"You good Di?"

"Fine. Thank you for catching her." We landed next to the others and let the other Pokemon off. Spark and Ky jumped to Alex, and Pikachu landed next to Ash. The Boss of the Squad climbed down and stood next to the rest of them. I transformed back into my human form as Leo patted his Pidgeotto.

"Thanks Zephyr. Return." I smiled my thanks to Leo, and turned to see the others in the Squad staring at me.

' _ **So...'**_ The leader said. ' _ **You're human?'**_

"No. I'm a Ditto. I just have a human form that I favour."

"Guys," Alex said, breaking into the conversation. "Hate to break this up, but we have a fire." I looked over, and sure enough, I saw the blaze from the balloon. I transformed back to a Pidgeot.

"I'll take the Squirtle Squad to deal with the fire. I'll meet you there." I told them, motioning for the Squad to climb onto my back. Once they were all on board, I took off, using Tailwind to speed up our approach. We landed there in around two minutes, and the Squad hopped off. I transformed into a Squirtle again, and started using Water Gun to put out the fire. The rest of the group followed suit, and we had the blaze lowered in a matter of minutes. Ky and a Blastoise stood next to us, using Water Pulse and Hydro Pump to help. The fire was completely drowned out, and Crystal came over as I returned to my human form.

"Thanks Tsunami." She said, returning him. Ky slid over to Alex, and I smiled.

"Well, you'll be off to the gym, right?" She nodded. "Good luck." The shiny Squirtle went over to Leo.

' _ **Thank you for saving me.'**_

"Don't worry little bud." Leo patted her.

' _ **Would you mind if I travel with you? I think you'd be a good trainer.'**_

"Sure thing. I'll give you a nickname too; Umiko. What do you think?"

' _ **Sure!'**_ She grinned. Leo tapped her on the head with a Pokeball, and it shook a few times before clicking. I grinned.

"Well, sorry to say this, but I have to go. I'll see you around." Alex gave me a hug.

"I'm sure we'll run into each other soon." I smiled to the rest of them, and turned to go, before I felt a tug at my leg. I looked down to see the other four of the Squirtle Squad looking at me.

"What's wrong?"

' _ **Can we come with you? Our Boss is going with the trainer, and we won't carry on the Squirtle Squad. Also, you're our friend. So would you mind?'**_

"Of course not. You can come and stay at my home. I'm not flying the whole way though. I'll teleport later on." I smiled at them, then my friends. "I'll see you soon. Good luck at the gym, you three." I transformed into a Latios and lifted the four remaining Squirtles onto my back. Leo let Umiko out, and the friends waved goodbye. I used my psychic powers to keep them held to my back, as we would be traveling at super fast speeds, so I didn't want them to fall, and jetted into the sky, heading towards Hoenn and my friends house.

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 ***Alex's POV.***

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I watched as Diana flew away with the remainder of the Squirtle Squad. Leo crouched down next to Umiko.

"Don't worry. We'll go and visit them someday." Umiko smiled.

' _ **Thanks. What's next?'**_

"We have a gym now. It's Electric, then a Grass one. So not too good for you either way."

' _ **I don't mind. I'd like to take on the Grass gym, though.'**_

"Sure thing bud. We'll get training soon. But for now…" Leo looked around at us all. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Ash said, excited. "I want to get my next badge! Let's go!" He ran off. I laughed, as did Umiko, and we followed on behind.

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 **AN: Sooooo much POV switch! Sorry, but the best way for me to present what was going on for each character at the time was this. The girls will be back next week, so don't moan about them not being around. Also, you will get a lot of different friends of Alex & co. during this, so get used to more people randomly appearing. Heck, you might only meet some of them once! Either way, next is the gym and maybe I'll do a backstory or two in the next few chapters. I **_**might**_ **also do some stories for the friends of the group. I'm not sure, but I'll see you next time!**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Hello people, and it's time for the third gym! And where are the foxes? I have no clue. I think they think they're still grounded. *Shrugs.* Oh well. We also have a nice little chunk of plot, so I'll let you enjoy the story. And I don't own Pokemon.**

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 **Chapter 34.**

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I stood next to Ash and Leo, ready to see some battles. Leo was first, then Ash and me straight after. I think Leo said he would be trying out Wildfire, while the both of us were using Pikachu and Spark. We have a few combo's to use and try to catch Surge off guard, but he has some very powerful Pokemon. Leo stepped up to the field, and sent out Wildfire, while Surge used Voltorb.

"Wildfire, start this with Flame Wheel!"

"Voltorb, hit it with Spark!" He retaliated. Both of the Pokemon were injured, and I took notice of a slight mark on the side of the Voltorb. I grinned; seems like Leo had gotten a lucky burn on the Flame Wheel. That will be helpful to get a quick knock out, so then he doesn't need to stress too much. Surge noticed too, and quickly gave another command. "Charge Beam!"

"Block it with Ember!" He did so, but he was still damaged quite badly. "Are you ok?"

' _ **I'll be fine Leo. What's next?'**_ Wildfire yelled bravely, but he was badly weakened.

"Alright. Use Flame Wheel again!"

"Heh." Surge laughed. "Voltorb, Charge Beam!" When Leo didn't tell Wildfire to dodge, Ash looked confused.

"What's he doing?"

"Hush." Bella shushed him. "You'll see." She was grinning lightly, and I wondered what she was talking about. Wildfire pulled off a bit of damage, but took a lot along with it. Leo looked at him, then smiled.

"Wildfire, finish this with Reversal!"

"Voltorb, stop it with Spark!" The two Pokemon collided with each other, and Voltorb was sent flying into the wall, and Wildfire was barely standing. Surge returned his knocked out Pokemon, and turned to Leo. "Good job kid. Who's next?" Ash swapped places with Leo, and Pikachu hopped down next to him. Surge laughed. "A weak little Pikachu, huh? Well, I'll use Raichu!"

' _ **Awww, a little baby to crush!'**_ Raichu leered. Ky poked her head out of my bag to watch, and growled.

' _ **Cocky little leader. He shouldn't be so judgy.'**_ Crystal nodded in agreement.

"I thought we taught him a lesson." I looked at her.

"Did the three of you fight him together?"

"No." Amy replied. "We joined together at Celadon, after we," She gestured to Bella and herself. "Beat the gym. We waited for Crystal to beat it and went on together after that."

' _ **Hate to break up the backstory, but the battle's starting.'**_ Ky told us. We looked back at the field to see that both Pokemon were charging at each other. I recognised the moves as Quick Attack and Slam, but I was surprised that Ash hadn't used the combo. I guess he's saving it for a surprise attack later.

"Pikachu, Dig!" He froze for a second, staring at the orange evolution before diving into the ground.

"Raichu, chase after that thing and hit it with a Thunderbolt!" Surge said, obviously believing that he had Ash cornered.

"Surface!"

"You too Raichu!"

"Pikachu, try finishing this with the combo!" Pikachu froze again, but then charged at Raichu, and Surge chuckled.

"A baby Volt Tackle, huh? Raichu, show them how it's really done!"

' _ **With pleasure!'**_ He also charged at his opponent, but used a proper Volt Tackle attack. They crashed into each other, and Pikachu was sent flying into the wall. As he did so, I felt a sharp sting at my side and winced. I heard a hiss from the others and knew they had felt the same thing. Dang, Ash was lucky right now. He might be getting a little affected by the static, but this is really annoying. I sighed lightly and gave a glance to the others. They met my eye and I nodded. Crystal looked surprised for a moment, but the girls nodded their consent, as did Leo. That's organised, then. Ash ran over to Pikachu and picked him up, then ran out the doors to the Pokemon Center. Surge looked at me.

"Well, you ready to go, now you've seen the power of my Raichu?" I glanced to the door, then at the others, and shook my head.

"I'm going to wait for Ash." I told him, before walking out after him. I heard Surge chuckle behind us, and I knew that he thought I was scared. Far from it. I just had more important things to do at this time. Ky was hiding in my backpack again and hissed lightly.

' _ **Silly little leader. I almost want to fight him myself, just to see his reaction. But it'll be more fun to see him get beaten by a Pikachu.'**_

"You're right there. I would love to see his reaction, both to you and Spark beating him. But one or the other, I suppose." I whispered back. I turned to walk out of the city, heading for the same spot I had taken my team and Sukima for some training a few days before. I found the shielded clearing and sat down. A few moments later, the others joined me in a circle, and Spark and Ky went to the edges, having no real reason to be in this. Bella gave me a look that said 'Are you sure?' and I nodded to her. And so we begin.

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So. That secret. Sorry for withholding it for so long. I needed everyone to agree. I'm not sure how to do this, so I'll let Amy explain first. We can swap as we go.

Ok. Here goes. This will sound stupid, but… The reason Alex gave at the start for us being able to understand Pokemon, was kinda a lie. We would have picked it up that way, if we hadn't been born as hybrids. We each have a form that kind of mimics our personalities. Or our personalities will sometimes match our other form. Alex described me as more jolly with a toying nature, and that may be because I'm a Mew. Not literally, just my alternate form.

Yeah, I'm shy with more strategy and foresight, and I'm a Celebi. Would make sense right? Celebi time travels, so my nickname from my purely human friends of 'Bella the seer' hits the spot. I don't do it for battles though, as that's cheating.

'Crystal the Cold' is an Articuno. A cold, merciless nature fits my form quite well. Freezing my enemies to the spot with a fast offensive battle style. I'm also quite unforgiving to people that annoy or hurt my family.

Then there's Alex and myself. We're some of the only siblings we know that share a form. There's a couple, but it's rare. Which doesn't make much sense as, well, they're related. But anyway, our form…

Is an Arceus. As my brother was saying, we aren't the only hybrids around. In fact, we've met a few that we know quite well from our visits. There are a few different things that can tip a person off to it, like being careful around humans.

We'll tell you the story properly some other time, maybe at the same time as Ash. That is, if my bigger sister decides to tell him any time soon.

Oh calm down Leo. Alex will say eventually. All of our Pokemon know about it, by the way. Hiding the fact I was a Celebi would suck, as Pokemon sense lies better. Did I miss anything important Crystal?

We can also use telepathy to talk silently to each other, so we can have private conversations. Shall we get back to our story now that's done, Alex?

We'll probably have to tell Ash before we get too far. But it's up to you guys to make that choice too. I've made mine, but take your time. I don't want this to be the wrong choice. But sure. See you guys.

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 **Chapter 35.**

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So now that's done. Spark climbed onto my shoulder and Ky into my backpack and we stood up. Bella glowed the pink-green aura I had come to know, and smiled. Looks like that's a good future for us, then. Spark smiled at me.

' _ **Come on Alex! I want to battle with that Raichu!'**_

"Sure thing bud." I'm pretty excited myself, honestly. Though I wonder how we should deal with it.

"Be careful with your commands and control." Bella told me. I looked questioning at her, but she just ignored me. That's as much of the future she'll tell me, then. She doesn't want to mess anything up, so she won't say much about it. "You work well together, so use that to your advantage." Woooo, cryptic stuff! Whatever, let's go. We walked back to the Pokemon Center and ran into Ash as he was walking out with Pikachu. I stood next to him to let our Pokemon talk as we did.

"You ready Alex?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. You ready for your rematch?"

"I guess so." He shrugged. "Maybe I'll learn something from your battle."

"Sure thing." I said as we walked into the gym. Ash, Leo and the girls headed up to the stands as I walked to the side of the field. Surge laughed, as did Raichu. Spark hopped down from my shoulder and stood on the battlefield.

' _ **Hey, another baby Pikachu to crush. How great.'**_ He smirked.

' _ **Don't take me lightly. I trained with some of the most powerful Pokemon of my family. I'm stronger than you'd think.'**_ Raichu looked worried by this, but Surge was contemplating something. He looked to the stands, then back at me.

"A gym battle is supposed to be one on one, but you have no chance of winning, so I'll give you an offer. You and your friend can battle together against my Raichu. It at least gives you a chance." I looked at the stands, surprised. Bella was grinning like a fiend; she must have seen this. I shifted my glance to Ash. I expected him to call it unfair and ignore the offer; instead, he hopped down next to me with a strange look on his face, and Pikachu jumped down next to Spark. She smiled happily at him, but he looked slightly fearfully at Raichu before returning the grin weakly. _I wonder…_ I thought, before shaking that out of my head and focusing. I gave Ash a reassuring look, and we got ready to battle.

"Raichu, start this with Thunderbolt!"

"Wait for it you two." I told them, taking complete control of our team for a second. "Now dodge!" Pikachu flung himself to the right, and Spark went left, and both dug their tails into the ground. The Thunderbolt hit where they had been standing, and so missed them both.

"Now, Lightning Amp combo, go!" We yelled, synchronized. This idea was something we had been working on for a while, and none of the others knew about it, except maybe Bella. The two used Quick Attack to charge at the Raichu, then used Iron Tail and their own Thunderbolt to electrify their now steel tails to deal more damage to their evolved form.

' _ **Owwww!'**_ It yelped. Glaring at the 'baby' Pokemon that were retreating to avoid another attack, he crackled with lightning.

' _Looks like Raichu's getting annoyed.'_ Amy warned me. ' _You'd better be careful.'_

' _Of course sis.'_ I replied, flashing a quick grin at her.

"Looks like I may have taken you lightly. Raichu, Volt Tackle!" That's a risky move, as the recoil would make it easier to knock it out. He targeted Pikachu, who stood there frozen, and I quickly made my command.

"Spark, block it with the combo!" Spark ran at the Raichu with a weaker version of it's move, and slammed him away from Pikachu. There was a small shock of static, and Spark was knocked to the wall.

' _ **Spark!'**_ Pikachu yelled. ' _ **Are you ok?'**_

' _ **Yeah.'**_ She shouted back weakly. ' _ **Don't worry. Get it!'**_

"Pikachu, go!" Ash commanded. Pikachu charged his own attack and ran at Raichu. I glanced to the stands to see Bella grinning. I wonder what's going to happen… he seemed angry at Raichu for hurting Spark so much, and his electricity surrounding him became bigger, more… wild.

"That's Wild Charge!" I gasped. So there's the reason for Bella to be grinning so much. He rammed into Raichu, and sent him flying into the wall.

"Raichu!" Surge shouted. The small dust cloud that had appeared when he hit the wall cleared, and he was knocked out. Surge returned him with a sigh, and turned to us. "Well, I guess I underestimated you two. Here, the Thunder Badge. Good job." We nodded back, and I called over to Spark. She struggled over, and Pikachu ran to her and helped her stand. I picked her up and held her, and Pikachu climbed on Ash's shoulder. The others hopped down from the stands, and Bella floated slightly to stop herself falling. Amy glared at her. No powers was our rule; if you have to use them, be careful. We walked out of the gym and over to the Pokemon Center.

' _ **Pikachu? Can I ask you something?'**_

' _ **Sure. What is it Spark?'**_

' _ **When I blocked the Volt Tackle, you seemed… frozen. Was there something wrong?'**_ Pikachu blushed slightly, though it was hard to tell because of the already red cheeks.

' _ **I… don't really want to talk about it.'**_ He muttered. ' _ **It doesn't really matter anyway.'**_

' _ **Ok.'**_ Spark said nicely. ' _ **Maybe another day.'**_ I could practically _hear_ Bella's grin, it was so big. I do wonder what his problem was, but as Spark said, maybe another time. He can talk when he's ready.

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 **AN: I'm not too sure if this counts as a cliffhanger or not, because it won't be touched again for a while. Anyway, you finally know the secret. There will be a few characters that you meet along the way that are too, but for now, the only obvious ones are Alex and her family.**

 **P: She says 'obvious' because you might be able to find some of the ones that aren't directly stated, but you** _ **might**_ **be able to tell from their character.**

 **T: By the way, we're back. I kinda don't like the way it was revealed. But I** _ **am**_ **interested in what was up with Pikachu. And why is Bella smiling? It probably wasn't a good thing that made him be so scared, so why is she smiling?**

 **SV: We'll get to that. Someday. Not too soon, but soon enough. See you all next time!**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Hey guys, it's a backstory today!**

 **P: Shadow decided to give a start to the stories of different Pokemon on the teams.**

 **T: The important ones, that is.**

 **P: Trixie! All of the different characters are important!**

 **SV: You're right about that Pix, but I don't have stories for many of the Pokemon yet, so the main ones are the starter trio, Ash's Pikachu and Cobalt.**

 **T: That's Crystal's Lucario, if you didn't know.**

 **P: I'm sure they did.**

 **SV: I'll keep them kinda spaced out, maybe every three chapters or something. Anyhow, I don't own Pokemon, so continue on!**

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 **Special Chapter 1: Deku's lost home.**

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** Hi! I'm Deku, the Bulbasaur of the trainer Alex. Let me tell you guys about my life before I found the Hidden Village. Well, I'll start at the beginning.

I was hatched in a forest. When I was hatched, the first thing that I saw were three Pokemon looking at me. Two Venusaur, and a Bulbasaur, though I didn't know those names at the time. One of the Venasaur sniffed at me, and frowned.

"I've never seen a Bulbasaur with such strange colouration, have you dear?"

"No, I haven't either."

"Awwww, who care's that he's a different colour! I wanna play with my new brother!" The Bulbasaur whined. She must be my sister then. My Momma sighed.

"Sure thing." She turned to me. "Go with your sister to the play park. We'll come and pick you up later. Go and make some friends." I nodded, and my sister lead me along a path.

"Do you have any friends here then?" I asked her.

"Just a few." She shrugged. "There aren't many of us here, and our part of the forest is pretty small." The path started to widen, and we soon walked into a small clearing. My sister pulled me over.

"Now, a few of the Pokemon are a little mean, but if any of them pick on you, come straight to me. I'll sort them, or Momma and Pappa will." Sister warned me. I nodded to her.

"Don't worry, I will."

"Now come on and make some friends." She lead me over to a little play area. In that place, there were a few Pokemon. I didn't know the names at that point in time, only later, but now I remember there to be a family of Pidgey, a Pikachu or two and an Eevee. Now I think about it, there were a few rare Pokemon there. Anyway, the Eevee looked quite lonely, so I walked over and stood next to it.

"Hi." I said shyly.

"What do _you_ want?" She said snobbishly. I flinched.

"I… I just wanted to be friends." I said. I was pretty surprised that she was so mean.

"Why would _I_ want to be friends with the likes of _you_?" Jeez, she was rude.

"I… I don't know." I said quietly. "I just thought we could be friends, that's all. But I'll go now." I turned away, and walked over to the group of Pidgey and talked to them. At some point, a flock of Spearow joined us, along with Sister Bulbasaur and the two Electric mice. I glanced over to the Eevee a few times, and I saw her look longingly at our group before noticing my glance. After that, she always looked snobbish again. When we had been there for around an hour, one of the Spearow noticed the Eevee at the edge of the grounds.

"Hey look! It's little snothead! Let's go!" It cawed, hopping over. The other members of the group also went over, and started teasing her. I looked to my sister, who had a stony look on her face.

"Why are they picking on her?"

"She thinks she's super special because she has spiky fur on her head and around her paws. They pick on her because of that."

"That isn't nice!" I shouted. "We should help!"

"What can we do? We can't defend her."

"Well I will." I told her firmly. I dashed in front of the Eevee, facing the group of bullies.

"What're you doing, silly? You're in our group."

"That may be, but I don't agree in bullying a girl because she's different." I growled.

"We aren't picking on her for being different. It's because she's such a snob if you try and talk to her. Thinking she's so high and mighty because her fur is different."

"Either way, it isn't nice. Leave her alone." The group looked at each other, then flew or ran to their parents. I turned to the Eevee. "You ok?"

"Thanks." She said shyly. "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier."

"It's no worry." I said kindly. "Can we be friends now?"

"Yes. I'm really sorry about my behaviour." We stood and talked for a while, and my sister came and joined the conversation too. Momma and Pappa came and pick us up after a few hours, and Eve went home too.

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This continued for a few weeks, but then something happened that changed our lives forever. Some odd people had been hanging around our forest, but had paid us no mind, like they were hunting for something. I had been sunbathing with my sister and Eve when I heard some garbled speech.

' _ **Here *^ & ! Mew *%*& cloning!' **_Mew? And cloning? I know who Mew is, but why is she here? And what's cloning? The things came into our area that we were lying in, and started when they saw us. I ignored the three of them, as I didn't know what they were and assumed they meant no harm to us.

' _ ** &^%* Bulbasaur! *^% Spiked Eevee ~*^! ~&%*& lucky!' **_Are they talking about us? Me and my sister were Bulbasaur, and I guess Eve was the Spiked Eevee they said about. I stood up and stretched, then spoke to the others.

"Come on guys, let's go home. I don't trust these things." My sister stood up too.

"Sure thing. Eve, you coming to ours?"

"Yeah!" She said, shaking out her fur. She's changed over the last few weeks, becoming less cocky and more friendly towards us. The rest of the group we had been with at first had become more tolerable of her too. "I'll race you there!" She grinned, racing towards the park. She didn't actually know where we lived, so we would go from the park back home. My sister gave me an exasperated look, then ran off after Eve, with me in pursuit.

' _ **Hey! * &%* away! % * them!'**_ One of the things yelled behind us.

' _ **Got *%^!'**_ Another shouted, and a few moments later I found myself trapped in a blue sphere. One of the people came and picked up the ball. He was dressed in black with a red 'R' on the shirt. The other two walked out of the trees with identical orbs in their hands. I was dismayed to see my sister and Eve were in them. Eve whimpered slightly, and the man grinned lightly.

' _ ***^ &% we need? *& it?' **_One said to another. The one holding me nodded, then spoke into a black thing clipped to his belt.

' _ **Mission *^. *^ &% * helicopter evac.'**_

' _ **Roger that.'**_ That's odd, I can understand them a little better now. I heard a strange noise and looked up through the orb to see a huge machine with giant blades on top land near us. I guess that must be what they called a helicopter. It can close to landing, and a door opened up on the bottom. We were carried inside and put inside a cage. He closed the lid, and the spheres surrounding us disappeared. Eve pushed herself against the bars, trying to squeeze through. I turned to the wall behind us, and was surprised to see it was a window. I looked out over our forest home, having never seen it from this perspective before.

' _ ***^$% Lucia? Launch *$% weapons?'**_

' _ **Feel free.'**_ I recognized the voice to be the one that had come from the talking device. Why did I understand her, but not the others? ' _ **I'll lock the place you found the DNA. Don't want anyone else getting their hands on it, do we?'**_ The man near us shook his head, and a moment later I heard a huge boom. I looked to where we had been lying, and saw it erupt into flames. It spread fast, and I could only look in horror as it rushed towards the park and our homes. Eve took one glance outside and curled up in a ball, with my sister close by. I followed them, and could only pray that our families get away. I could see into the front of the helicopter from my space, and saw the pilot reach over and push a button.

' _ **Hello bro. What's the deal?'**_

' _ **Lucia, the mission was a success?'**_ I could understand the boy too, but the pilot, obviously Lucia, called him brother, so I guess if they're related, that makes sense.

' _ **Yup. Got the DNA, and some rare Pokemon to boot.'**_

' _ **Good. The Boss will be pleased. What are they?'**_

' _ **One normal Bulbasaur, one shiny Bulbasaur and one Spiked Eevee.'**_ I guess that's what I am, with my strange colour. Shiny Pokemon must be rare.

' _ **Very nice. How'd you deal with the place?'**_

' _ **Flamed it. Don't want people cloning Mew for themselves, do we?'**_

' _ **Of course not. Hurry on back, the Boss want's it quickly.'**_

' _ **Sure thing Lucian.'**_ She replied, before disabling the call thing. She turned to the grunts back here. ' _ **You guys hit the bench, we've a three hour flight from Johto to Kanto on the way.'**_ They nodded, and climbed a ladder to the upstairs. One went into the front, and the door closed behind them. Figuring it was now safe to talk, I turned to the others.

"You hear all that?"

"Of course." Eve snapped.

"It's odd understanding them. I've only seen a human once, and I didn't get anything of what they said." Sister told us.

"That's good and all, but maybe we can escape." I told them. They looked at me. "When we land, we can try running out of the helicopter. It's our best bet, even if it isn't very good." The door slid open, and we froze as the girl called Lucia walked over to us.

' _ **It's no good plotting to get out. You can't escape.'**_

"Watch us." Eve snapped again, even if she couldn't understand her. To our surprise, the girl chuckled.

' _ **Try your best. Prisoners can't escape on their own.'**_ She flipped her hair, and walked into the front.

"She… understood you?" Sister said, shocked.

"Maybe it was a fluke." I guessed. "Come on, let's get some sleep." I curled up by my sister and friend, and fell into a restless sleep.

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

I woke up to the pilot's yelling.

' _ **Come on numbnuts, we're approaching the landing zone!'**_ The rest of them scrambled down the ladder. A booming voice came through the speakers.

' _ **Identify yourselves!'**_

' _ **Rocket Elite Lucia, reporting back from Operation Mew.'**_ Rocket Elite? She must be high up in this group. Below us, a landing zone appeared, and we touched down. The back opened again, and I prepared to run when the cage opened, but we were surrounded by the orbs before we could move.

' _ **Told you it's impossible.'**_ Lucia grinned. I growled at her, but she walked away, and I looked hopelessly at the girls. We were escorted out, and I saw the tool keeping me locked up on the humans belt. Too fair for me to reach. A boy a little older than Lucia walked over.

' _ **Are you ok? Nothing went wrong at all?'**_ He said, with a slightly worried tone.

' _ **Lucian, I'm fifteen!'**_ Fifteen? That's pretty young to be a Rocket Elite. ' _ **You don't need to treat me like a baby!'**_ She slightly shouted.

' _ **I'm seventeen. That gives me a right to worry.'**_ Seventeen? They must have been young when they joined, to be Elites. ' _ **Now, how'd it go?'**_

' _ **Fine, all I did was hover nearby.'**_ Lucian nodded, then we walked towards to base. Suddenly, a green streak collided with the human holding me, and knocked my orb out of his hands. It disintegrated, and I landed on the floor. The green thing ran off, but I looked at my sister and friend. I wanted to save them too, but my sister mouthed something that clearly said 'Run!'. I looked to Eve, and she did the same. I sprinted off, following the green thing until it disappeared. I heard yelling behind me, but didn't stop. I hid in some bushes, thankful for my colouration keeping me hidden. I lay there for what felt like hours, until I was so hungry I threw caution to the wind, figuring the Rockets would have given up by now. I walked around, and picked up the scent of berries. I found a pile of berries hidden in a bush, with only a little poking out. I dove into the bush, and started gobbling them up. A shadow crossed over me, and I looked up to find a Pokemon looking down on me.

"A shiny Bulbasaur? Here?" She said.

"Sorry for eating your berries." I apologise.

"It's fine. I can gather more in a moment." She replied.

"What kind of Pokemon are you? I've never seen one of you."

"My name's Latias! Can I ask where you live?"

"I came from Johto, but I was captured along with my sister and friend."

"I see. I come from Hoenn, as does my brother, so you wouldn't have heard of us. We're legendaries in that region, so I suppose we would be here too." She did a happy flip. "May I ask who caught you?"

"A group called Team Rocket."

"Team Rocket? I've heard of Team Magma and Team Aqua, but not Team Rocket. I guess they're only in this region." She was looking at the sky, as though thinking of something. "Say, do you have any place to stay?" I shook my head. "I know a place. Here, I'll fly you there." She lifted me on her back, and flew up out of the forest clearing. She headed east, over a huge expanse of fields and a city in the distance. We landed in another forest, and Latias dropped me down.

"Head that way." She said, pointing behind me. "There's a human there that'll take care of you." She must have seen how nervous I was about that, and she patted my head. "Don't panic, she's a really nice person. She understands Pokemon fine. I'll fly behind you, if you want."

"Ok." I replied. She floated behind me, and disappeared. I looked around for her.

"I'm still here, don't worry." Said a voice to my left. "I can naturally turn invisible. I'll use telepathy to talk to you, so she won't hear me. It's just because I'm a rare Pokemon." I nodded, then started walking in the direction she had pointed. After walking for a few minutes, Latias spoke. ' _Here we are.'_ I crossed over a little border, and into a clearing. ' _It's just across here.'_ We started walking, or in the case of Latias floating, across the area. Suddenly, a Parasect dashed out and tried hitting me, but Latias was between us and was hit by the X-Scissor. She was knocked to the ground, and lost her invisibility. I stood in front of her as it launched another attack, and shouted behind me.

"You run back! Go to your brother! I'll keep it off!"

"No! You're too young!" She argued. I used Tackle to bat it away, and yelled back at her.

"I'll deal with it! Now go!" She hesitated again, but took off weakly and flew away. I was distracted by this, and was hit by a X-Scissor. I was close to being knocked out, and was regretting my decision slightly, but I had helped a legendary Pokemon escape. An orb, like the one that had captured me and the girls, hit the Parasect and sent it flying. It scuttled away, and as I fainted, a girl picked me up.

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I woke up, and first saw a girl at my side, smiling slightly. She looked the same age as Lucia, around fifteen, and I panicked for a second before realising it wasn't her. I glared at her slightly, worried she would be like those Team Rocket grunts.

' _ **Hey, don't worry. Are you feeling ok now?'**_

"Where am I? Who are you?"

' _ **I'm Melanie. You're in my Hidden Village.'**_ She said kindly. ' _ **You were attacked by a Parasect. It was scared away by a strange attack before I got to you.'**_

"Thank you for helping me." I said shyly, having calmed down.

' _ **Don't worry. If you don't have anywhere to go, you can stay here.'**_ I thought about this. This girl, Melanie, was really kind. And Latias had been taking me here before we were attacked. I nodded. ' _ **Great to have you here.'**_

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** A few weeks passed after I first came to the Hidden Village. It was night, and I had just finished rounding up the Pokemon for the night. They looked up to me as a guard, and did what I told them too. I was drinking at the pool, ready to go to sleep myself, when a little ball floated in front of me. I looked at it for a few moments, before I recognised it to be the same orb that knocked the Parasect away when I helped Latias escaped. As soon as I had come to that realisation, it floated away, and I quickly followed it. It lead me to the clearing I had fought the Parasect in, and disappeared. I looked around, weary, before two figures, red and blue, landed in front of me. I recognised the red as Latias, but I didn't know the blue one. It looked bigger than she did, and was glaring at me.

"Hello Latias." I said to my friend.

"Are you ok? Did Melanie find you?"

"Yeah. How do you know Melanie?"

"Our Pokemon friends in this forest told us about her." The blue one said.

"I'm sorry if this is rude, but who are you?" I asked the blue Pokemon.

"I'm Latios. Thank you for saving my sister."

"Latios! I could have helped myself!"

"But this youngling let you get away and find me." He replied shortly, and turned back to me. "I saw that team land and take you three out of the helicopter. I sent one of my friends to break the balls and let you out. We only got you, before he had to escape."

"Thank you. Can you help save my sister and Eve?" I asked eagerly.

"No. They're already taken into the base. We can't reach them. But we know someone who can."

"Who?"

"She won't be around for a while, but she'll come. You'll know her when you see her."

"How will I tell?" I directed the question at Latios, but his sister answered.

"Wait for the scent of Arceus. It will guide you then." I was about to ask more, but Latios interrupted.

"We need to go. We're needed elsewhere." He looked at me again. "Good luck, young one." They flew off, streaks of red and blue against the sky, before disappearing from my sight. I shook my head.

"Legendaries are cryptic sometimes." I looked at the sky for a few more moments, then walked back home.

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You know most of the rest of my story. I would often walk to the spot of the Parasect attack and stare at the sky, wondering if the Latias and Latios would come visit again, only to remember that they're legendary Pokemon, and have their own jobs to do, and probably aren't even in this region any more. When I stood there, I would think about those parting words from Latias. ' _Wait for the scent of Arceus. It will guide you then.'_ Why would Arceus help a little Bulbasaur? And _she_? I always thought Arceus was a male. Also, how would I recognise the scent? It was easy for legendaries, they had probably met Arceus before. That's what I had thought. But as you now know, two years later, I met Alex. I didn't pay attention to her at first, or the mix of strange scents from her and the others I now know to be her family. The first time I noted the smell, it was when she found the garden. I was going to bring it up before Spark interrupted me. I only knew what it was because it smelled familiar. Like something I had known all my life, but had forgotten until that moment. It's a hard thing to explain, but that's the best I can do. That's one of the main reasons that I wanted to travel with Alex. When Bella had healed me, before the battle, I thought again about what Latias had told me. ' _Wait for the scent of Arceus.'_ I could tell, somehow, that the smell from Alex and Leo was an Arceus. But I went with Alex, because Latios had said she, not he.

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So now you know my whole story. Hopefully that clears things up for you. Sister Bulbasaur, Eve… I'll save you from Team Rocket someday.

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 **AN: There you go. Now you know about Deku the Bulbasaur.**

 **P: That was so sad!**

 **T: I wonder what happened to Bulbasaur and Eevee. It was two years before this retelling, after all. I hope nothing too bad happened.**

 **SV: It's Team Rocket. What do you think happened?**

 **P: This won't be good. Will they meet again sometime?**

 **SV: Not sure. I might have them arrive this arc, maybe you won't see them in Kanto.**

 **T: How many regions do you plan on doing?**

 **SV: Definitely Johto, maybe some of the others. I think I'm going to include them here, but I'm not sure. Thanks to everyone reading, you've been my balance as of late.**

 **P: She hasn't been too happy recently. I think the weekly updates are the only thing stopping her from just crying for hours on end.**

 **SV: Classes do that to you.**

 **T: On that note, see you next week! We'll keep Shadow updating for you guys.**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: All good today! No weird, brooding Shadow. This chapter's kinda a filler, with a little insight into the powers of the girls and Leo. Not too much Ash, as a lot of it happens at night.**

 **T: She says a lot, most of the important stuff tends to happen, but there is some good stuff in the daytime too.**

 **P: Ash isn't too prominent, as it's a lot of hybrid stuff. But I'm excited to see this, so Shadow doesn't own Pokemon, and onward we go!**

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 **Chapter 36.**

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I was looking at the sky as Sukima snook up behind me. She tried scaring me, but I waited until she was right behind me before speaking.

"I know you're there. You can't sneak past my Psychic barrier, unless you're a Dark type."

' _ **Awww.'**_ She moaned. ' _ **I forgot you were doing that now.'**_ She stood next to me. ' _ **What's wrong?'**_

"I feel like flying again. But I know Bella wouldn't let me."

' _ **Maybe she would. It's still early, and only Ash is asleep. Ask her.'**_

"Ok." I focused my telepathy. ' _Bella, feel like flying?'_

' _Sure thing!'_ She replied, excited. ' _I'll get the others, hold on.'_ I could feel her directing her telepathy to the others, and a few moments later the others teleported next to me.

"Hey sis." Leo smiled. "Bella said you wanted to fly?"

"Sure I do!"

' _ **I'll join you for added protection.'**_ Sukima added. Bella nodded that it was fine, and we transformed into our small shape, trying to keep the white glow muted so it wasn't noticed.

 _ **'Ready to go you five?'**_ Sukima grinned. I did a couple of flips in the air; it's so much fun having Pokespeech be your main language, even for a little while. I took off, hovering above the others.

 _ **'Sure thing. Let's go!'** _ Crystal was just as happy to be flying. I looked at our little group, an Articuno, a Celebi, a Mew, a Garchomp and two Arceus, including myself. I chuckled slightly, and floated towards the ocean. The others followed. ' _Race you there!'_ Amy giggled, jetting past me. The others followed, and Sukima dashed along. I used Psychic to part the air in front of me, making a vacuum to speed me up, and shot past them. I reached the front, and dove. I crashed into the water with a small splash, and the others crashed in next to me. Sukima hovered above the water, being unable to breathe down here, or stand the enormous pressure of being near the bottom of the ocean. I couldn't tell if any Pokemon were around, but I assumed that they were asleep because it's night. A blue glow emanated from my left, and I looked to see Crystal was making her feathers glow with Psychic.

' _Thanks for the light.'_ I grinned.

' _No problem.'_ She replied. ' _Feel like diving to the bottom and seeing if there's anything there?'_

' _I think that sounds good.'_ Leo butted in. The others agreed, and we dove to the bottom.

' _We'll be back in a bit Sukima, just wait there.'_

' _Of course.'_ She replied through the connection. I looked up to see a little light blue platform appear, and realised Sukima had used Ice Beam to make herself a platform to stand on while we dive. Smart, now she doesn't just have to hover. I lead the dive, exploring a few underwater caves with the others. Crystal stayed next to me, giving me light so I could see my surroundings and guide everyone. We didn't see anything of interest, and Amy huffed.

' _This is boring! Let's go back to the surface and fly around some more!'_

' _Amy, don't forget we need to sleep sometime.'_ Bella replied, the more sensible balance to Amy's playfulness as a Mew.

' _We can do that later. We can't explore in our Pokemon forms much, because of Ash.'_ She looked at me. ' _Wouldn't this be easier if we just told him?'_

' _I would, but it isn't the right time.'_ I answered. ' _Come on, let's head up. Sukima is waiting.'_ I turned, taking the front of the group as we rose, with Leo on my left and Crystal to my right, still glowing slightly. Bella and Amy were in the back, looking around for any Pokemon. If there were Pokemon nearby, we would turn invisible quickly. After all, it wouldn't do for anyone to see so many legendaries. I burst out of the water next to Sukima and landed on the ice platform, that she expanded so we could all land. Crystal came out later, having took the time to stop glowing so no-one would notice us standing here.

 _ **'Have fun you five?'**_ She grinned.

 _ **'Of course!'**_ Amy smirked back. _**'We're going to wander around a little more, then head back.'**_

 _ **'Sure thing.'**_ I swear, Sukima inherited Amy's weirdly happy nature. She jumped up, hovering above our heads. We followed, and I used a small Flamethrower to get rid of the platform we had been on. No reason to leave evidence, is there? We started off back in a similar direction of Vermillion City, but as we turned away, Bella froze.

 _ **'What's wrong?'**_ Leo asked.

' _I saw the water ripple.'_ She said. I was going to question her, but it rippled out again. It waved out a few more times, and a small shape was created in the center.

' _Wait.'_ Crystal stopped us. ' _Isn't that like the portals George uses in mirrors and that?'_ I looked at it, and realised she was right. It was proven a moment later, when a Giratina surfaced from the ripple, and shook its head.

 _ **'Now, where are they?'**_ He muttered. Amy teleported over to him.

 _ **'Right here George.'**_ He gave a start, and glared at her.

 _ **'I should have known Amy.'**_ The rest of us flew over to him. _ **'Hello you four. How come you're out here? Don't you have a human friend? Did you tell him or something?'**_

 _ **'He still has no clue.'**_ Bella told him. _**'How come you're here?'**_

 _ **'The same reason Lillian and Lucas were. Did you tell Alex and Leo yet?'**_ I shook my head. _ **'Well, we had been having a few issues back home. A few hybrids, ten of them I think, have been moaning about the fact that this world belongs to humans, saying it's our world because we're more powerful than them. I sent Lillian and Lucas to tell your sisters and cousin about it, to tell them to keep an eye out for any troublemakers that are clearly hybrids.'**_

 _ **'Not this again.'**_ I groaned. _**'We better not have a war on our hands.'**_

 _ **'Yeah, this'll be what, number four?'**_ Leo agreed. George frowned.

 _ **"I hope not, but I just thought I should come and inform you. We've been on the lookout back home, and any of us who are trainers here are helping keep an eye out of this world.'**_ He looked at the sky. _ **'We should all be going. It's a few hours to dawn, and we can't worry your friend.' Bella nodded.**_

 _ **'Thanks for coming to tell us. We'll see you another time.'**_ George dove back into the water, making a portal as he went. It closed behind him with a small flash, and I looked at Bella.

 _ **'Let's get going. We have things to do tomorrow.'**_ They all nodded, and Sukima started leading the way back. I stayed for a few moments longer, looking at the sky, and a certain special star, before flying off to catch the others.

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 **Chapter 37.**

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I woke to Spark's Thundershock. I had had the foresight to put a Psychic shield up before going to sleep, but her shock still hurt.

' _ **Alex! Get up, we're going soon!'**_ I shook my head.

"Ok Spark, I'm coming." I got up, ready to get on with our journey. Before I left the room, I reached into my bag and pulled out a familiar case. Pink with a pearl embedded in it. I smiled. Opening it revealed a long necklace, with eighteen different shards of colour attached. I clipped it round my neck, and each of the shards glowed their signature colour. Just to fill you guys in, you may know that Arceus changes type when it holds a different plate, right? Well, hybrids can swap between other forms without the need for the normal Pokemon's special items or moves. For instance, Meloetta needs to use Relic Song to swap between Aria and Pirouette formes, but a Meloetta hybrid can use the attack without swapping, and can swap on command. And Shaymin, who needs a Gracidea flower to enter Sky Forme, can swap at any point, but they tend to have Gracidea flowers with them anyway, though I'm not too sure why. It's the same thing with us Arceus hybrids. Both me and my brother have these chains that have a piece of a plate that changes the form of an Arceus, but can change type without them. Actually, our human forms kinda count as a normal type Arceus, and we can use the plates to change our type. I used it before when Spark, and before her Ky, woke me up with electric attacks. Ground types aren't hurt by electric attacks, so I stopped that quickly. Ky poked her head around the door.

' _ **You coming Alex? Spark's bouncing off the walls wanting to go. Ash is the same.'**_

"Yeah, I'm coming. Just getting the plates. Does Leo have his?"

' _ **Yep.'**_ She slipped into my bag, and I frowned. ' _ **What? I told you I'd rather not travel in a Pokeball. It's not fun. I like hearing the conversations.'**_ I sighed, walking out the door and downstairs. ' _ **Speaking of fun, did you five enjoy your flight last night?'**_

"How do you know about that?" I said quietly.

' _ **I've lived with you all my life. I think I'd have learned to pick up on changes in Psychic aura, even if I can't always do it.'**_

"So you felt us transform?"

' _ **I only felt you guys because so many of you transformed at once. I might've missed it otherwise. I don't think Spark can tell, by the way. She hasn't been with us long enough to feel it.'**_

"That's fine. She's a little too hyper sometimes." I walked into the lobby of the Pokemon Center, cutting off our talk. Spark hopped up onto my shoulder, looking at Pikachu from across the room. He glanced at her, then at the wall, but not before I saw the saddened look in his eyes.

' _ **What's wrong with him?'**_ Ky asked Spark.

' _ **I don't know. He seemed angry when I tried talking to him.'**_ She replied.

"I'll talk to him tonight when we pitch camp." I whispered. Amy was standing closest to me, and grinned.

"Actually Alex, we aren't making much forward progress today. We're training again today. It turns out all of you three are taking the next gym as a test for the starters you got recently. You'll work with Bella, Leo's with Crystal and I have Ash."

"Ok. We heading back to the forest?" I asked. She nodded. "Well let's get moving." I lead the way back to the spot we had been in yesterday. Bella took over, taking us to a small clearing.

"We'll stay here Alex. There's two more, one near the left and one on the right." Amy grinned at Bella, and dragged Ash off to the left. Leo and Crystal walked to the right hand side.

' _Did you make these? I don't recall these being here the other day.'_ I asked Bella.

' _Maybe I did.'_ She grinned. "Come on, let's get started.'

' _Amy, you going to be ok? You can't make a special world to train with Ash and Blitz.'_

' _I'll be fine. After all, he has the best advantage.'_ She replied.

"Talking about making worlds, let's go!" Bella grinned in the same way Amy does, and we teleported.

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Inside a volcano. Well. Spark yelped.

' _ **Bella, are you kidding me! We'll burn!'**_

"Nah, we'll be fine. Watch." She ducked down and scooped up some lava in her hand.

"Twisted reality Sparky. Remember?" I told her.

' _ **Oh. Yeah. Right.'**_ She still seemed panicky.

"Here." Bella waved her hand, and teleported Spark and Ky into clear little bubbles. "Now you aren't near the lava. Alex, send out Deku." She said, bringing out Esmeralda.

"Deku, time to go!"

' _ **Holy Distortion World! Why are we in a volcano?!'**_

"Calm down. This is one of Bella's worlds."

"Yup!" She grinned to him. "Welcome to my Celebi Spot!"

' _ **What's that? I know we did that Mew Game to punish the kid, but a Celebi Spot?'**_

"We all have them." I explained. "Me and Leo have our Alcoves, and Crystal has Caverns. It's actually kinda dumb that we call them that, as they can be customised in anyway we want."

' _ **Ok. Why a volcano?'**_

"Well, you and Es here are going to battle. I'll make a proper floor in a moment, and as you battle the floor will dissolve. Just don't fall. You might not be able to knock out Es, so no need to try." Bella told them. We shone white as we transformed, and she waved her hand to make the floor stone.

 _ **'This sound's like a bad idea Alex.'**_ Spark said, moving her bubble near me. _**'Are you sure we should do this?'**_

 _ **'Well, it's a good way to get him better with his move speed, as well as working without command inputs.'**_

 _ **'Ok. Bella, what's the goal?'**_

 _ **'Deku has to deal as much damage to Es as possible. The floor will be completely destroyed in around five minutes or so. Deku has to deal as much damage as possible and not get knocked out in that time. We'll do something else later.'**_ Es nodded, as did Deku, and we floated out of the way.

 _ **'Ok you two, time starts now!'**_ I announced.

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Five minutes later, the floor had vanished. I grabbed our Pokemon, even though the lava won't hurt them.

 _ **'You ok bud?'**_ I asked Deku, hoping we hadn't stretched him too much by asking him to battle Bella's starter.

 _ **'Yeah, I'm fine. Tired though.'**_ Bella flew away from us, going to the sky and making a wall. Guess she doesn't want us seeing what she's building. I made a little hollow, surrounded in trees. I landed, popping the Psychic bubble around everyone. They fell to the ground, and I giggled.

 _ **'While Bel builds the next thing for us, we can stay here.'**_

 _ **'Alex, I just thought.'**_ Deku said worriedly. _**'Won't the others be worried when they find us missing?'**_

 _ **'Well, Crystal is with Leo in a Cavern, and Amy is training with Ash the normal way. Also, time moves weird here. We can chill for weeks and still be back on the same day, or spend an hour here and be back two days after we left. The one who creates the pocket world can change that.'**_

 _ **'Yeah.'**_ Spark sweatdropped. _**'We stayed in an Alcove of yours for a month before you started the journey with Ash. You made a race course and had me run it while a Rayquaza attacked me and you followed us on a Latias.'**_

 _ **'Yeah. I hadn't felt like transforming that time, and it also gave me a chance to more closely see what you did and change the course accordingly.' I smiled. 'And anyway, it helped, didn't it? You had a really good speed by the time we started.'**_

 _ **'I guess so.'**_ She shrugged. _ **'Shouldn't we be training you other Pokemon too, so all of us are balanced?'**_

 _ **'I'll do that later. We can get Ash here too. After all, he thinks Grace can make them, so I can make an Alcove with the others and say it's made by Grace.'**_

 _'That could be a nice plan.'_ Bella said telepathically, making us all jump slightly. _'We could do some fun things with that.'_

 _'You done yet sis?'_ I responded.

 _'Come see.'_ Again, that visible grin. I picked up the others in a Psychic bubble and teleported to Bella. The others gasped.

 _ **'A race track?'**_ Spark said, shuddering.

 _ **'Yup!'**_ Bella flipped. She was becoming more like Amy when building these things. _ **'Deku here is to race one of my other Pokemon. Sorry Es, you won't be too helpful here.'**_

 _ **'That's fine. I'm happy I was able to help.'**_ She 'bowed' to my sister ** _._**

 _ **'Come on back then.'**_ Bella landed, transformed back and returned her. She brought out… a Glaceon? Bella transformed again.

 _ **'Frostbound, feel like racing?'**_

 _ **'Sure thing!'**_ He grinned. _**'Who am I racing?'**_

 _ **'My Bulbasaur, Deku.'**_ I floated down to him. _**'Ready for this?'**_ He looked nervously at Frostbound.

 _ **'Errrr… I guess so.'**_ He whispered at me. _**'Am I able to fall?'**_

 _ **'Of course. Don't worry though, I'll go close to my normal size to follow and catch you guys if you fall. The idea is to help train your speed, not you attacks or defence. We can do defence later.'**_

 _ **'Ok.'**_ He seemed more confident with this answer.

 _ **'Great!'**_ Bella did another happy flip. _ **'Get ready to run then!'**_ Frostbound walked to the startline and sighed.

 _ **'Urg, I swear, Miss Bella is way too out of character right now.'**_

 _ **'Yeah, I've noticed that too.'**_

 _'She get's like this sometimes. Must be the relation to Amy.'_ I giggled mentally along with the boys.

 _ **'Ok boys, ready to run?'**_ Bella asked. They nodded in response, so I flew into position under the track and supersized. _**'The rules are simple. You will run the track along your lane, and I'll be taking away the ability to use attacks. Alex is flying below you and will catch you if you fall. I'll also be randomly breaking parts of the track for you to jump over. Just complete the race. Finally, the track will disappear in 20 minutes, and is designed to be beaten in just under seventeen. Frostbound may have an easier time that you Deku, but you don't need to beat each other, just the course. Now,'**_ Bella waved her hand, and the rippling wall before the line vanished. _ **'Begin!'**_ The boys jetted off, and I followed them. I can catch them quite easily, but the trouble will be when Bel starts breaking the track. I kept up with them, following them from below.

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We crossed over the line at thirteen minutes for Frostbound, and Deku at sixteen. I put bubbles around them, and Bel dismissed the track.

 _ **'Good job. Frost, I expected you to beat this quickly, as you've done this with the rest of the team before. But I was surprised that you beat it so fast, Deku. Es took just over nineteen minutes.'**_

 _ **'Thanks Bella.' He said, tired.**_

 _ **'What'd you have planned now sis?'**_ I asked. She closed her eyes.

 _ **'Well, we've been gone for around two hours actually. I think Ash will be getting restless by this point, so we should finish up.'**_ Deku nodded, as did Frost and myself. I swapped back, and so did Bella.

"Deku, good job. Return."

"Thanks for you help Frostbound. Come on back."

' _ **We're done then, right? We're going back out of this crazy dimension now?'**_ Spark said hopefully.

"Yeah, we're done for now." I said. "I think we'll do some more training later with the whole team. I'll make an Alcove for us all to work in. It'll be faster like that."

' _ **Oh. Ok.'**_ She sighed. Bella made a teleport orb, and we left the Spot.

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 **Chapter 38.**

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We teleported back into the clearing, with the Psychic orbs around Spark and Ky popping. Spark fell flat on her face, but Ky landed a little more gracefully next to her. I chuckled.

' _ **Owww.'**_ She moaned, standing up.

"Oh don't moan." I grinned, picking her up and putting her on my shoulder. Ky slipped into my backpack.

' _ **I know right. You didn't have to work through all that.'**_ Ky huffed at her.

' _ **I did, before we started the journey.'**_ She snapped back.

"Stop arguing both of you." Bella told them. Ash ran through the trees.

"Hi guys! You finished training too?" He shouted. I sweatdropped.

"Yeah, we just finished up." I told him. Bella sneaked off. "Bella's just gone to get Crystal and Leo." I slid a glance to Pikachu. He was looking at Spark and myself, but turned away when he noticed my attention.

 _There's definitely something wrong with him._ I thought. _I'll have to talk to him later._ Bella came back with Amy, Leo and Crystal. Amy smiled at me.

"Hey Alex, Ash, there's this cool boat at Vermillion! Feel like going for a ride?"

"That sounds awesome!" Ash said excitedly. "Can we?"

"Sure. Let's head back and give our Pokemon a rest, and I'll go and get the tickets." Amy said, giving me a small wink. She started walking towards the city, and Ash walked next to her, asking her tons of questions about the boat.

' _Are you ok with this?'_ I asked Bella and Crystal.

' _Sure.'_ Crystal replied. ' _I want to go on this boat too.'_

' _ **How are we getting on? There's no way we can afford tickets for us all.'**_ Spark said, not hearing our conversation.

' _We're hybrids. Amy can just make the tickets for us.'_ Bella told her.

' _ **But that isn't fair!'**_ She whined. ' _ **It feels like we're cheating our way on board!'**_

' _ **Oh be quiet.'**_ Ky grumbled. ' _ **At least we're able to get on board. Most trainers wouldn't be able to get on because of the price.'**_ I chuckled; these two would act like Amy and Bella sometimes, with Spark as playful as Amy and Ky being the more balanced one.

"Come on, we should help Amy with Ash's giant question barrage." Leo said, interrupting the argument. Spark and Ky glared at him, but nodded. We ran to catch up.

"Will there be any trainers?"

"Ash, I don't know. I've never been on it before." Amy sighed, exasperated. "Now stop asking all of these questions." We entered the city. "You guys head to the Pokemon Center and give your Pokemon a rest, and I'll go and get tickets for us all." She walked towards the docks, and I saw the ship we were to go on.

"Come on Ash, let's let Amy get the tickets." Ash was gazing at the ship.

"Wow! I've never seen a ship that big!" He exclaimed. I shook my head; I'd seen a few ships before, when travelling to visit friends, but I hadn't ridden on one before. I dragged him away from the boat and into the Pokemon Center. I left Deku there, and Bella gave her Es and Frostbound. I vaguely wondered what Pokemon Amy had used, but Leo handed in two Pokeballs, one for Umiko and one for Charcoal. I guess she hadn't bothered to use any other Pokemon to help Ash out, although Ash has a type advantage over Erika, so Blitz doesn't need too much training. We hung around for five minutes, and Joy handed our Pokemon back. We walked out the doors, and I looked around for Amy. I saw her come running over from the boat with a disappointed look on her face.

"What's up?"

"Well, I got the tickets, but the boat doesn't sail until tomorrow." She said, handing out the tickets.

"Well that sucks." I said sadly. "What should we do now?"

"There's no point to training, as we just finished, so we may as well just stay here." Joy gave us the same rooms as we'd had last night, and we headed up. Pikachu gave me a slight glance as Ash walked into his room. I'll need to talk to him soon. Maybe I can do it tonight, it depends if he comes into my room like he normally does. If he's angry with Spark, he might not, and that'll screw up my chance of talking to him. I walked into my room.

' _ **Are you going to talk to him?'**_ Spark asked as she jumped onto the pillow.

"I don't know bud." I sighed. "I don't know. He's acting kinda… hostile."

' _ **That's true.'**_ Ky added, curling up next to Spark. ' _ **He seemed sad too though. Maybe there's something wrong, or maybe that battle with Surge changed something. After all, he did seem to freeze when fighting that Raichu, so maybe it brought back something.'**_

"Maybe so, but there's no real use speculating. We'll find out if he wants to talk." I sat down next to them, and Ky slipped onto my arm. She poked my face, and I gave her a little poke back. Sparks ear twitched.

' _ **Alex, do you have a barrier up? 'Cause I think I hear someone outside.'**_ I frowned, then expanded the border of the barrier. Normally it was quite small, around just me, or around the group when necessary. Now, I expanded it to look outside the door and into the hallway, and could feel the presence of the thing that Spark had heard. I walked closer to the door, just as a small tapping started at the bottom of it. I opened it slightly, and saw the little black tips of Pikachu's ears. I opened it wider and let him run in. He went over to the bed, avoiding all our eyes as he jumped up and sat down. I closed the door again and sat next to him, then picked him up. He stiffened, but let me hold him.

"What's wrong?" I asked him softly.

' _ **What happened last night?'**_ He replied sharply.

"What do you mean?"

' _ **Ash left the window open, so I sneaked out and walked around for a bit. When I was coming back in, I saw a white flash on the roof. I stopped to watch, and saw you five come from the edge, along with Sukima. I ran back into the room, not wanting to let you guys see me.'**_

"Dang." I muttered. "Fine, we went out for a bit."

' _ **And the flash?'**_ He said eagerly. ' _ **It reminded me of when Diana went from human to her Ditto shape.'**_

"Our own transformation." I said hesitantly. Pikachu gaped at me.

' _ **Whoa! Are all you Ditto's too?'**_

"Not exactly." I sighed slightly. "Shall I show you?" He nodded quickly. I walked over and closed the curtains, then locked the door. "Don't panic, ok?" He nodded again, so I let myself transform. I kept myself small like I did the night before, the same height as Bella's form, around two feet tall. Pikachu just kept staring at me, but Spark and Ky just curled up next to each other, having seen this hundreds of times before. By the time I stopped glowing, I was an Arceus again, and did a small flip in front of my friends.

 _ **'What… the… heck!'**_ Pikachu stuttered.

 _ **'Shush.'**_ I said, placing myself next to him.

 _ **'That was smaller than what I saw last night though.'**_

 _ **'Yeah, well, five hybrids transforming will cause a pretty bright flash.'**_

 _ **'Five?!'**_ He yelped.

 _ **'Yep. All of us. It runs in the family after all.'**_

 _ **'And hybrids?'**_ He frowned. _**'I feel like I've heard that term somewhere.'**_

 _ **'Maybe. If you did, it was probably a negative story from thousands of years ago that's been passed down.'**_ I said sadly.

 _ **'What do you mean?'**_

 _ **'Maybe I'll tell you another time. It's a long story.'**_ Pikachu was clearly interested, and looked disappointed. I flew in front of everyone and transformed again, landing gently. "Ok, now move out the way. I want to sleep tonight, after flying around all yesterday." They all moved to the bottom of the bed and curled up again. "Goodnight guys."

' _ **Night Alex.'**_

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 **AN: That took so long to write.**

 **P: What story were they talking about?**

 **SV: That's another thing that'll be waiting on a reveal for a long time.**

 **T: Are they going sailing next time?**

 **P: I hope so. I may be a Fire type, but I love sailing!**

 **SV: Yes, they'll be on a boat next. Along with some old friends and a setup for a backstory.**

 **T: Yeah! Who, who, who?**

 **SV: And I'll see you all next time!**

 **T: Hey! Don't cut…**

 ***Beeeeeeppp!***

 **?: See you all another time!**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Hello folks!**

 **T: You never answered my question.**

 **P: And it's been two weeks! Now I'm curious.**

 **SV: And you get to wait another two weeks, because this week we're sailing!**

 **P: Yay!**

 **T: Fine, I'll be patient. Shadow doesn't own Pokemon.**

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 **Chapter 39.**

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Spark woke me up even earlier than yesterday. I looked blearily at her, and frowned.

"What do you want?"

' _ **Come on, we're going sailing!'**_ She grinned, bouncing around.

"Urg, you're worse than normal." I muttered, slowly sitting up. "Did you eat a ton of sugar before you woke me up?"

' _ **Nope!'**_ She was running around the room now. ' _ **I just want to go on a boat! I've never been on one before!'**_

"Of course not, we lived away from the ocean. I've travelled across the ocean before, with the others to visit friends."

' _ **Other hybrids, I assume?'**_ Pikachu said, a little sourly.

"Yep." I replied, standing up.

' _ **I'm a little sad I haven't met any except you.'**_ He said to me.

"You have." I smiled at him, walking away to open the curtains and get ready. "You just haven't realised yet."

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Crystal knocked open the door.

"You coming Alex?" She called, unlocking my door with Psychic.

"Sure, just come right on in!" I yelled back. The three Pokemon hopped into their places, with Ky hidden in my bag.

"You showing off last night to little Pikachu here, dazzling him as an Arceus?"

' _ **How did you know about that?'**_

"Psychic senses let me know." She replied, walking out. I followed, whispering a warning to Pikachu as we went.

"Don't go talking about me being a hybrid. I don't need everyone knowing, and you never know who can understand you."

' _ **Ok.'**_ He nodded in response. ' _ **I guess that makes sense.'**_ He jumped down and ran over to Ash.

' _ **Well at least he seems happier now.'**_ Spark smiled. ' _ **I feel kinda bad that you transforming was the reason he was sad.'**_

' _ **I know right.'**_ Ky said. ' _ **I feel kinda bad for not telling him.'**_

"Well, we planned to say at the same time as telling Ash, but I guess it's better like this." I replied. "Although he'll probably be raging when Ash misses showings of us using our powers."

' _ **Yeah, Ash is too ignorant half the time to notice your powers.'**_ Spark sniggered. Ky tapped her on the head as we walked over to the rest of the group.

"Ready to go on that boat?" Ash smiled.

"Yeah. You have the tickets, Amy?"

"Sure I do." She smiled back at me, pulling the tickets out of her bag. She handed them out to us, then started walking towards the door. Ash opened his mouth to start asking questions, but Pikachu put his paw over his mouth.

' _ **Save it Ash, she doesn't care.'**_ I giggled slightly as Ash glared at him; although he can't understand Pokespeech, he got the idea. He looked at me and smiled. ' _ **I swear, this kid is annoying sometimes.'**_

' _ **I know right?'**_ Spark chuckled. ' _ **You get used to his hard headedness though.'**_ Leo was standing next to me, and smiled at the Electric rodents antics.

"Come on, we don't want to miss the boat." Crystal walked out of the door, quietly talking to Bella about something. Leo followed, and I walked next to Ash, letting our Pokemon talk to each other.

"Have you ever been on a boat?" Ash asked, curious.

"Once or twice. Never one like this though." I told him, and Ky nodded in agreement.

' _ **I remember that one trip. It was quite fun. We ended up on an island, where we stayed for a few days before leaving. We went diving twice, and explored a few caves.'**_

' _ **Really?'**_ Pikachu asked her. ' _ **Can we do that?'**_

' _ **Unless Miss Alex and the others say that we can trust Ash with our secret, no.'**_ Ky replied. ' _ **We can't exactly tell just anyone without a good establishment of trust.'**_

' _ **Have you always known Ash though?'**_ Pikachu said, confused. ' _ **Why haven't you told him yet?'**_

' _ **Well, everyone has to agree. And also, we need to know how he'd react as a trainer to the knowledge that these guys aren't exactly human.'**_ Spark replied.

' _Wow. Thanks Spark. That's really nice of you.'_ I said to all of them, hurt.

' _ **What? How'd you say that?'**_

' _Telepathy.'_ I replied simply. ' _Can't exactly talk out loud about hybrids, can we?'_

' _ **That's true.'**_ Spark said. ' _ **Sorry about that, by the way.'**_

' _Don't worry too much.'_ We walked onto the docks, where the girls were waiting. Amy showed the tickets to the person in front and we walked on board, heading to our rooms. They were all across from each other, and fairly close to the deck too. We opened the doors and left our stuff there, and continued up to the deck with our Pokemon. We had locked the doors and put a Psychic charm on them too, so no one could break in. I did the same for Ash too, just because he can't, and followed the others to the deck. I looked at the water, seeing a few shadows swimming past and smiled. I loved seeing Pokemon so happy in their homes, even when humans so often interrupted them. Ash was staring at the Pokemon, using his Pokedex on every Pokemon he saw. I listened around the boat, and grabbed Ash's arm.

"Come with me." I dragged him over to a stand.

"What's this?"

"A daycare center sale. The eggs weren't wanted by the trainers, so they can be given to trainers here." I explained. Ash gazed at all the eggs on the shelf.

"I can't decide which one I want!" He said, frustrated.

"Well, why not try a randomised Pokemon?" The salesman said, noticing us. "It'll pick a random Pokemon out of the ones we have."

"Sure, I'll try it." Ash said.

"I'll have a go too." I added. Ash pushed the button, and a name dropped out. The salesman saw it, and went to get the Pokemon. He came back extremely quickly, and handed Ash the ball.

"Congratulations! You got yourself a Zangoose! Take good care of it." He said hurriedly. I looked at the ball curiously, but walked and pushed the button myself. Again the salesman went round the back, and when he did, Spark jumped off my shoulder and looked at the name.

' _ **What the…? This Pokemon doesn't even hatch from an egg, unless I'm mistaken.'**_ I raised my eyebrow at her, but before I could question her the person came back. She used Quick Attack to get back to me.

"Well done! You've got a Ditto!" I took the ball.

 _I think I know someone who'll be happy to see this._ I thought to myself, then frowned. "But, Ditto can't hatch from eggs?"

"That's correct." He said. "We were quite surprised when it hatched from a bright purple egg, but no one came to claim it, so… now it's yours!"

"That's convenient." I muttered. "Well, thank you." I turned and walked back to the front of the deck, and then turned to Ash. "We need to send a Pokemon back now, don't we."

"I almost forgot about that." He replied. I pulled out my Pokedex.

"I think I'll send back Star for now."

"I'll send Lunar with her then. They can keep each company." We both pushed the white button on the Pokedex, and the Pokeballs for each Clefairy was teleported to Professor Oak. "I'll have to remember to train him soon though. He isn't very powerful."

"Don't worry. I'm sure that Star will help him." I reassured him. "I think I'll nickname Ditto later."

' _ **We'll have to try and meet Diana sometime, then we can show her your Ditto.'**_ Spark said.

' _ **Wait… when Diana transformed…'**_ Pikachu frowned. Spark shot him a glare and he shut up.

' _No talking about it right now please.'_ I told him. ' _You never know who hears and understands you.'_ He nodded quickly, leaving Ash confused. I looked at the sky, and frowned. I squinted against the glare to see the shape of a Pokemon, serpentine with spikes. _George…_ I thought. He must be keeping an eye on us. Or, more likely, he's keeping an eye on Ash. Hybrids helping humans, even at risk of themselves… like it used to be. I watched as he flickered out of view, either shrinking or becoming invisible as Ash looked up too.

"What're you looking at?"

"I thought I saw a rare Pokemon, but it's gone now." I said, not wanting to reveal exactly who it was.

"Wow. I'm sad I missed that." Ash said, still searching the sky. I walked to Bella.

"Bella, how long is this trip then?"

"We travel for three days to an island, stay there for a while, then head back. We can stay there though, because it does link to Celadon City, but that's a few days of walking. It _might_ be faster to go there though, because it would be a three day trip back then a day away after that." I nodded, staring at the ocean again.

' _George, you having fun there?'_ I said telepathically.

' _How the heck did you notice me?'_ He said to all of us, surprising the rest.

' _I happened to see a small shadow that disappeared quickly, so I looked up.'_ I explained. ' _You're lucky Ash didn't see it.'_

' _Dang.'_ He said.

' _Why're you here anyway?'_ Leo asked.

' _Just keeping an eye out.'_ He replied. ' _I'll be on this world for a few days, while you're on this boat.'_

"Why are you all so quiet?" Ash demanded, snapping us out of our conversation.

Hm?" Crystal said, then shook her head. "Oh, just thinking."

"Well, let's do something." Ash said. Amy rolled her eyes.

' _Don't act like he's worse than you.'_ George smirked.

"Fine, let's just walk around the boat." Leo said. I grinned up at George's invisible body, seeing it with my Psychic, before walking with the others.

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 **Chapter 40.**

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It was the start of the third day on the boat. I woke up with a sneaking suspicion that something was wrong, but shook it off, mostly because George would have said if there was something wrong. Spark was looking out of the window again and waving at the fish Pokemon as they swam past.

"Spark, stop staring out the window."

' _ **But I've never seen Water types underwater before!'**_ She said. ' _ **After all, I can't exactly swim down here.'**_ I sighed.

"I'll take you diving sometime. It'll probably be at night, considering… well, you know." I winked.

' _ **Swimming underwater is a lot of fun.'**_ Ky said. ' _ **I can't do it for long, but it's nice to be down here without help.'**_ Something squinted into the window, looking oddly at our boat before being pulled away by another Pokemon, possibly a parent. I guess it hasn't seen a boat before.

' _Hey Alex, can I come in through the mirror?'_ George said suddenly. ' _I'm bored of flying.'_

' _Sure. Give me ten minutes or so.'_ I replied, quickly gathering my stuff up and rearranging some things with my Psychic. Spark went and unlocked the door. "Where are you going?"

' _ **Exploring.'**_ She said simply, and dashed out.

' _ **I'll go with her so she doesn't get into trouble.'**_ Ky sighed, shaking her head as she slid out of the door after her. I pushed the door closed with Psychic, and then sat down.

' _Come on through George.'_ I said. The mirror in the room flicked and warped, and a little portal appeared. A small Giratina head poked through, followed by the rest of the body. "Hello tiny Giratina."

' _ **Don't go making fun of me.'**_ He growled slightly. ' _ **Are all the others in different rooms?'**_

"All along the hallway, yes."

' _ **Ok.'**_ He looked around the room. ' _ **Where are your little helpers? I seem to remember you had one other than little Kydyur.'**_

"Spark's being an idiot somewhere, and Ky is making sure she isn't too stupid."

' _ **Well, so long as Ky is there, she should be fine.'**_ George said. He curled on the bed too, being careful not to let his spikes from his Origin form break anything.

"You could transform into your Altered form, or be a human." I suggested.

' _ **Nah, it'll be fine. I'll leave in a bit to keep flying until you get to this island.'**_ He said, relaxing. ' _ **We just need to hope that none of the others walk in, though I can turn invisible or shrink to tiny sizes and hide if it's Ash.'**_

"If you're so confident." I grinned.

' _ **It's been quite boring just flying. Nothing's going on, so I'm just floating after you.'**_

"You don't have to." I told him. "We won't have any problems."

' _ **I'll do it because I'm here. I don't think you need the protection, but I'll keep an eye on you. I also know how many disasters happen at sea, and while I know you wouldn't let anyone get hurt, I don't really want for you to transform and put yourself in danger. I wouldn't be in danger, because they'd think I'm a legendary Pokemon and try to catch me after they got over the shock of seeing me, and by then I'd be gone.'**_

"Ok." I looked at the door as something creaked down the hallway, and George went to a tiny size and hid in the hood of my jacket. ' _Don't you dare rip this. It's new.'_

' _Stop moaning.'_ He snapped back. Spark ran into the room and bounced next to me, and Ky slipped in too, closing the door behind her. George sighed.

' _ **Hey Alex. Who were you talking to?'**_ Spark asked, curious.

' _ **Just me.'**_ George said. Spark looked around wildly for the voice, and George laughed. ' _ **Can't find me.'**_

"George, stop it." I could tell he frowned at me, but flew out, growing in size again.

' _ **Hello there Giratina.'**_ Ky smiled at the other serpentine Pokemon.

' _ **Hello to you too Kydyur.'**_ He smiled back politely. ' _ **You aren't as small as when I last saw you.'**_

' _ **I would say the same, but you hybrids can alter your size, so I can't really comment on that.'**_

' _ **I guess so.'**_ He smiled at Spark, who had never met this hybrid before. ' _ **Hello Spark. It's nice to meet you properly at last.'**_

' _ **How do you know me if I haven't met you?'**_

' _ **I've been following the boat on this trip.'**_ Spark looked about to question more, but George cocked his head. ' _ **You friends are coming. I'll go back to my flight. See you later.'**_ George flew into the mirror again, and I heard the very faint splash as he rose out of the water. Spark once again pressed her face to the window, trying to spot the little Giratina as he flew around.

' _ **Save it Spark, you won't see him.'**_ Ky grinned.

"Hey Alex, you coming?" Amy knocked on the door and peeked round it.

"Sure. Come on Spark, stop staring at the fish." Spark ran over to me and jumped on my shoulder, and Ky slid into my bag as usual.

"Who was Ky talking about?" Amy asked me.

"A friend of ours."

' _ **George came to visit.'**_ She clarified.

"Why didn't he come to us?"

"Don't ask me. Let's go to the deck, we might be able to see some rare Pokemon." _Or George._ I added silently.

"Well, the others are already there." I raised my eyebrow. "Yes, Ash was up early for once." We walked towards the deck, and I overheard some people talking about their super rare Pokemon.

' _Super rare Pokemon.'_ Amy sneered slightly. ' _I'd love to see the reaction to our forms. We'd show them rare.'_

' _They probably wouldn't know what we are.'_ I said calmly. ' _After all, they aren't legendary Pokemon for nothing. Not many people know what they are unless they're researchers.'_ Amy chuckled through our telepathy. We walked to the others who were standing at the front of the deck. We stood there for a half hour, talking about the different Pokemon that were passing, mostly for Ash's sake. A young man approached us and spoke to me.

"Excuse me miss, but you have a powerful looking Pikachu there. What would you say to a battle?" Although he didn't add anything more, I could hear the rest of the unspoken words. _Not that you'd stand a chance._ The others, excluding Ash, bristled slightly, but I did my best to stay calm.

"Sure. Lead the way." I followed him to the battlefield.

' _Do your best sis.'_ Crystal said, and I knew she wasn't taking the clear insult lightly.

' _Don't worry, Spark will show him some sense.'_ I grinned back. They walked to the stands and took a seat. "Ready to battle Spark?"

' _ **Do you even need to ask?'**_ Spark grinned, jumping at the chance to fight.

"Because it's Pikachu, I'll use this!" He threw out a Pokeball that I recognised from Johto, a Fast Ball, so I expected a Johto Pokemon, maybe a Ground type, even if they aren't very fast Pokemon, but I was pretty surprised to see another Electric type.

"Meet my second Pokemon, Kakashi." He gestured to the Luxray now sitting on the field.

 _A Luxray?_ I thought. _Right, an Electric type found mostly in Sinnoh, but can be rarely found in Johto and Kanto too. They can apparently see through things, so I'll have to stay cautious._

"You can take the first attack." He said.

"Spark, use Iron Tail." I started quickly, not wanting to give the opponent too much of an advantage. I could tell this Pokemon was powerful, so I need to be careful.

"Kakashi, use Crunch."

' _Spark, use Quick Attack to get around him, then try Thunderbolt.'_ I said telepathically. I hated doing that, it felt like cheating, but I needed every advantage I could get. Spark disappeared, then came back into sight and used Thunderbolt. It didn't do much damage, but it did a little. _Just chip away at it._ I thought.

"Your Pokemon knows what to do without your input." He said. "Very good. Kakashi, let them taste your Fire Fang."

"Dig!" I shouted. _Don't get seen._ I hoped.

"Kakashi!" He started scanning the ground, something I'd hoped he wouldn't do. He seemed to locate Spark, and she dived out of the ground, ramming into the Luxray despite the flames in its jaws. She immediately used Quick Attack again to get over to me. Luxray still wasn't very hurt, but Spark wasn't even scratched. Bella was staring at the field, and seemed to be smiling at something. She better not be reading the future.

"Kakashi, Superpower!"

"Spark, Wild Charge!" The two Electric types charged at each other, and Spark was enveloped in a field of electricity. Wild Charge would do a considerable amount of recoil, but also plenty of damage, so I was hoping for the best that we can deal more damage than Luxray's Superpower. Also, the Superpower will weaken his attack and defence, so we may be able to end it faster. Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the ship back and forth, sending us flying into the wall and canceling both attacks.

' _George!'_ I yelled telepathically. ' _What the Distortion World is going on up there?'_

' _No idea.'_ George replied to us all. ' _I'll try and find out.'_ The connection went silent as we stood up, then George shouted back. ' _You've hit a rock! There's a huge leak. You all need to get out!'_ He seemed quite panicked, and the Captain of the boat called over the loudspeaker.

"Attention! We've hit a rock and currently have a large leak. We would like you to calmly evacuate to the lifeboats and start heading to shore." Everything was dead silent for a moment as this sunk in, then people started charging for the lifeboats. Ash looked ready to go too, but we didn't move and he frowned.

"Why aren't you moving? The boats leaking!"

"Yes, but we need to let everyone else get off first. We can talk to the Water Pokemon if we need to, so we don't have as much of a problem. Let all the others escape first, then we can leave." Ash nodded, but as the room started to clear out I noticed another had do something similar. The boy I had been battling before had returned his Luxray and was leaning against the wall. I walked over.

"What're you still doing here?" I asked. "Shouldn't you have left?"

"I could ask you the same question." He replied. "But if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say our reasons are the same. Let others escape first, then leave yourself."

"How would you guess?" He shrugged.

"No real talent needed. By the way, I'm Zakrai. We never got introduced before the battle."

"I'm Alex." I said.

"Well, it was good to meet you Alex." He said back. "I think everyone's gone at this point so I'll be leaving too. Maybe we can battle again." He walked up the stairs onto the deck.

"Come on, we should leave too." Ash said. I nodded, but as we started walking to the stairway as well, an explosion boomed through the ship. "What on earth was that?"

"Cobalt, please give us some help!" Crystal said, letting out her Lucario helper.

' _ **What do you need?'**_

"Can you find out the damages to the ship?" He nodded, and closed his eyes, using his aura powers to search the boat.

' _ **There's one small hole, seemingly the first one, and three large gashes along the bottom, almost like marks from an Air Slash. Water's filling in fast, so I recommend that we…'**_ Before he could finish, another explosion boomed. His eyes snapped open, before he focused again. ' _ **A huge hole just got ripped in the ship, like one caused by a Dragon Rush, but seems to have remnants of electricity.'**_ The ship tilted sideways, before flipping completely. Even though I knew he wouldn't be able to help, as he can't breathe underwater unless he uses Psychic, I called out to George.

' _George! Help!'_ I felt a small Psychic wave around the water, and a final thing collided with the ship before I was knocked out.

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 **AN: Cliffhanger!**

 **T: Really? We better not be waiting any longer than this next week for the backstory.**

 **P: Trix, be patient. The readers had a backstory for Deku two chapters ago, so they probably won't want another so soon. And Shadow said that it would be every three chapters or so.**

 **SV: I don't think it will be next time because we need to move the cliffhanger, but we'll have some friends and that appear, for the hybrids and Pokemon!**

 **T: Fine, I can keep waiting. Not much longer though.**

 **P: Don't worry, I'm sure Shadow will get on with it. See you next time!**


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Cliffhanger is gone today!**

 **T: Thank you!**

 **P: You still have to wait for the backstory.**

 **T: At least this is a good chapter. Lots of talking and special stuff.**

 **SV: I don't own Pokemon, let's go!**

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 **Chapter 41.**

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I woke up, remembering being knocked out, and tensed, ready to sit bolt upright, but then decided against it. After all, it might be better to see what's around first. I used Psychic to look, and could feel the auras of the others nearby. Amy's pink, Bella's a mix of pink and green, Crystal's two different shades of blue, Leo's ever-varying colours like mine, and Ash's teal blue pure aura. I could also tell that they were knocked out too, and then searched for our Pokemon. Sure enough, they were all there, but I saw two more flickering Psychic auras near. Blue and pink. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up, which gave me a bit of a headache from lying down for so long. I closed my eyes again as everything spun, and could feel another aura approaching. It was coloured a dark purple, with a slightly lighter bluish purple, like George. I opened my eyes again and looked around, and saw the Pokemon responsible for the blue and pink aura. Two Lugia lay side by side, hidden deeper in the trees that were surrounding us. _I thought Lugia was in the Orange Islands, near Shamouti._ I thought, confused. Just as thought that, one of the Lugia stirred, then slowly raised its head and looked at me.

' _ **Oh! You're awake!'**_ It smiled at me. It flapped its wings lightly, sending a ripple along the grass, and flew over to me. ' _ **Are you ok Alex? What were you doing on a sinking ship? Why didn't you get off the boat?'**_ I was mildly confused by the fussing it was doing, but then recognised the voice.

"Lillian? What are you doing here?"

' _ **Saving you guys, apparently. Me and Lucas were just swimming around, then George came charging down, and said about the ship being wrecked, so we came to help. Can I ask why you didn't just fly out yourself?'**_

"Ash. He still doesn't know that we're hybrids. We could have just changed his memory, but I don't like doing that. It feels kind of rude to just intrude on his mind to alter that."

' _ **I understand. He is your best friend, after all.'**_ Lillian nodded. ' _ **When the others wake up, you should pretend to wake up too. We'll make a little explanation then go dive into the sea. We can swim round and meet you at the entrance to the town. We live there with a friend, so you can stay for a few days before heading on to your next city.'**_

"Ok." Lillian rose and glided over to Lucas, nudging him awake. He shook his head as he stood. "Hello Lucas, how are you?"

' _ **I'm fine. Are you ok?'**_

'I'm good too, thanks to you and George. Actually," I said, looking over the water. "I felt an aura like George's coming this way."

' _I'll be around later.'_ He said, surprising us all. ' _Don't worry.'_

' _ **You sensed a Psychic aura from that far away?'**_ Lucas asked, looking at me in surprise. ' _ **You're getting a lot more powerful. The rest could probably do as good and better than you.'**_

"That's nice to know." I had an idea. "Hey, maybe I should wake Pikachu. He's been wanting to meet other hybrids for a while now."

' _ **I thought you said Ash didn't know about you guys.'**_ Lillian said.

"He doesn't, but we told Pikachu. It's good Ash doesn't understand Pokemon, but it's fairly funny to watch their antics." I gave Pikachu a Psychic nudge, and levitated him over to us. "Come on bud, wake up. There's someone I want you to meet." He sat up slowly, shaking his head.

' _ **Oww. What hit me?'**_

"The ceiling of a boat. Or I guess, you hit it." I shrugged. "Anyway, I want you to meet some friends of mine." He looked over my shoulder and saw the two Lugia's, and his eyes widened.

' _ **These are your friends?'**_ He sounded surprised.

' _ **It's good to meet you properly this time Pikachu.'**_ Lucas said. ' _ **How's your journey been? Beaten the third gym?'**_

' _ **How do you know that?'**_

"You've met them before, just not in this form." Pikachu thought hard for a second, then gasped.

' _ **Would it be Lillian and Lucas, by any chance?'**_

' _ **Dang, how'd you figure out so fast?'**_ Lucas growled. ' _ **I was hoping it would take longer than that.'**_

"Why are you guys here anyway?" I asked.

' _ **I told you. We've got a friend here that we're living with for now. When you all wake up and head to the town, we'll meet you there. You can stay with us.'**_

"Does your friend know too?" I asked.

' _ **Yes. She knows because we have to look after something. It's one of the main reasons we're staying here. We're looking after an egg that we found while swimming, and she's helping us look after it.'**_

"Ok."

' _ **I thought you only let people you trust know?'**_ Pikachu said, confused. ' _ **Why did you let her know?'**_

' _ **She's been like an adoptive mother to us.'**_ Lucas said, slightly sadly. I knew Pikachu would ask what he meant, so I interrupted.

"Shall I try and wake the others?"

' _ **Let me.'**_ Lillian said. ' _ **I'm better with the passive uses of our Psychic powers than my brother here.'**_ Lillian's eye's glowed blue as she used her Psychic powers. Slowly, the others began to stir and sit up. Ash was slowest, probably because the others were also Psychic, so they reacted faster. Lillian stopped her move. ' _ **Done. We'll fly over the water, talk with you all for a minute and leave. We'll dive into the ocean and surface on the other side of the island, transform and come over to you.'**_ We both nodded, and the two small Lugia flew over the shallow bit of the water.

"Oww." Bella said, rubbing her head as she sat up. "What the heck happened?"

"The boat flipped and knocked us out." I explained.

"How'd we get out then?" Ash asked, sitting up too.

"Ask them." I replied, pointing at the Lugia hovering over the water.

"What are those Pokemon?" Ash said excitedly, pointing his Pokedex at them.

' _ **Insufficient data. Pokemon unknown.'**_

"Unknown?" Ash looked at the Pokedex, confused. "Then what kind of Pokemon are you?"

' _We are known as Lugia, the Beast of the Sea.'_ Lillian said telepathically.

"What?" Amy said, pretending to be surprised. "How did you say that?" Lucas laughed quietly, knowing she was pretending.

' _It's called telepathy.'_ He said. ' _We learned it so we could talk to the humans around our home when we were helping out our father with storms.'_ I knew he was lying; after all, legendary Pokemon can't have kids, or not to my knowledge.

"Oh." Crystal said, playing with the act Amy had started. "Where do you live then?"

' _Near a small group of islands called Shamouti.'_ She said. ' _We came here for a little holiday, to see the other Pokemon in the world. There aren't many Pokemon near our home, so we wanted to see some other Pokemon in the world, and try to learn some new things.'_

' _We're pretty young in legendary standards.'_ Lucas added.

"Really?" Ash said, interested. "How old are you?" They hummed for a bit.

' _In your ages, I think around 12, and my sister is nine?'_ He guessed.

"Isn't that a little young to be exploring without a parent?" Ash asked, concerned. "What if a trainer tries to catch you?"

' _It's almost impossible to catch us.'_ Lucas said.

"Talking of that, why did you help us?" Leo asked then, still keeping up the act.

' _We could feel that there were still humans on the boat as it flipped, so we ripped it apart with Psychic and pulled you all over, keeping air bubbles around you. We had to stay submerged as we swam with you here.'_ Lillian explained to us.

' _And by the way, we'd rather you didn't go talking about us.'_ Lucas said. ' _It might endanger all of us. Does this region have a Professor?'_ He didn't wait for an answer before continuing. ' _Just don't ask about us please.'_

"We understand." I said. "Don't worry, we won't talk about it." I gave Ash a pointed look, as he was the most forgetful. Pikachu had slipped over to Ash at some point, and the girls had came to me too, after getting over the two legendary Pokemon.

' _We need to go now. We were only planning to spend a few months here, so father might be getting worried.'_ I nodded.

"Ok. Maybe we'll come and visit you someday." They nodded their thanks and flew out to sea, diving into the ocean as they got to deeper waters. I knew they would go swim to the other side of the land and change form, then meet us. We all looked out over the water, amazed at the legendary Pokemon that we had met. Suddenly, a song rippled across the island, very quiet and peaceful. I vaguely remembered hearing this before, somewhere a long time ago.

"Melody..." Bella whispered.

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 ***Flashback.***

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I was sitting in a music hall, waiting for the curtains to rise and the performance to start.

"Thank you for bringing me, Aunty." A voice on my left said. I looked across Leo to see Crystal giving my mom a hug.

"Don't worry about it sweetie." On my right, Bella shushed us.

"They're starting." She said, looking at the stage. As the curtain rose, it revealed a piano, along with two flute players. I didn't recognise them, but I looked behind the piano and smiled. Even at nine, Melody had been a prodigy in music, which made sense as a Meloetta. The chatter soon died down, and Melody started the song. I remember Crystal jolting forward slightly, then relaxed again. The performance lasted maybe four minutes, but it's the part of the entire show that I remember best. There were a few other people who came and performed too, but once the hour of the show was over we went to the backstage door. A Gallade was guarding it, and wasn't going to let us past, but then Melody came out and beckoned us in.

"That was great Melody!" Amy said happily. Melody smiled; she had always been an older sister to us all.

"Thank you." She replied. "Mother found it for me when she went to the human world as a Pokemon Trainer."

"Really? What's it called?" Bella asked, curious. I was interested too, and so were the others.

"I think it's known as The Legend Comes To Life, or The Song Of Lugia." Melody told us. "It's from a group of islands called Shamouti, and they have it as part of a festival for Lugia. It's said to be able to calm Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos when they fight."

"So that's why I felt that weird pull." Crystal muttered.

"Oh, I forgot about you being an Articuno. I didn't think it would affect you at all. Sorry about that."

"It's ok. It really was very calming."

"Would you like a lift home dear?" My mom asked her.

"No, it's ok. I'll fly back. Thanks for the offer."

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 ***End flashback.***

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I shook my head as the song ended, smiling. I knew the others had had the same memory as me, and we were all smiling lightly. Ash looked at us.

"Wow." He said. "Should we get going then? See if there's a town?"

"I think there is a town here. After all, why would we be heading here if there wasn't anything?" Crystal said. We nodded in agreement, and started walking away from the water.

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 **Chapter 42.**

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I saw the edge of a town in the distance, and pointed it out to the others.

"Come on guys, there's a town over there."

"Well, let's go." Ash said. "I'm hungry!" I sweatdropped, as did the rest of the group. Ash always thought with his stomach first, then his brain. "Come on guys!"

' _ **Ash, you should slow down.'**_ Pikachu sighed. ' _ **The town won't go anywhere, so we don't need to rush.'**_ Ash looked at me confused, and I gave a translation.

"Pikachu, I know that, I just want to get there."

' _ **Err, hello?'**_ A voice said behind us. I turned to see a Marill behind us. ' _ **Would you happen to be Alex?'**_

"That's me." I said, walking over beside it. "Why?"

' _ **My friend asked me to find you and take you to her house.'**_

"Oh really? Who?"

' _ **Lillian. Now follow me.'**_

"That's right, Lil said they had a friend here that they were staying with." I muttered. The others looked at me confused, Ash just because he didn't know what the Marill was talking about. I quickly translated to Ash what the Marill had said, and he nodded.

"Ok, let's follow the Marill and see your friends." Bella was still giving me a quizzical look, but I shook my head slightly.

' _Later.'_ I said as the Marill started bouncing away to the town. She nodded at me as we walked after it. We followed it into the town, and Marill lead us past the Pokemon Center towards a big building at the edge of town. Bella tapped me on the shoulder with Psychic.

' _Care to explain now?'_

' _I woke up before you guys and had a conversation with Lillian and Lucas. I also introduced them to Pikachu properly. They said they had a friend they lived with here.'_ I think Bella was about to reply, but Marill stopped in front of the house. It jumped up and tapped on the door, and a few moments later a boy opened it.

"Hey Lucas." I smiled. "How are you?"

"Fine, thanks." He said, crouching down next to the Marill. "Thanks Mizu. You run on back home."

' _ **Bye Lucas! If you need me, just call!'**_ She smiled at him, and bounced off into the water. She hopped off the little cliff, and landed with a splash in a pool.

"You guys come on in." He said to us, moving out of the doorway. "I mentioned to Rosa that you were coming, and sent May to find you."

"Thanks." Leo said. "Are you sure that Rosa's ok with us staying?"

"Yeah, she doesn't mind." He replied, shrugging. ' _After all, you're just like us.'_

"That's nice of her." Ash said, oblivious to Lucas' extra statement.

"Yeah, that's what she's like." Lucas shrugged again. "She's thinking of opening a really big hotel for travellers. She used to be a trainer herself, so she understands the struggles of travelling. There is already a hotel here, but it's quite small, so when the cruise ships come around, both that hotel and the Pokemon Center get completely flooded." Lucas explained as he lead us through the halls, and unlocked one of the doors. "Here, you guys can stay in the rooms down here. I'll come and get you all in a little while." We walked into the already unlocked rooms.

' _Holy Distortion World, their friend is rich!'_ Crystal exclaimed. I gave a mental nod in agreement. I dropped my stuff on the dresser, and the girls hopped down.

' _ **Wow, this Rosa person must be super rich!'**_ Ky yawned slightly, not having heard Crystal's statement.

' _ **I don't claim to be very knowledgeable about humans, but even I can tell this stuff is expensive.'**_ Spark was wide eyed as she looked around the room.

"Well, she was apparently a trainer, but I didn't expect this." I added. We all looked out of the window, and I saw the small hotel that Lucas had mentioned. I could also see a medium sized island behind it, which seemed to have a construction site on it. "I wonder what's going on there."

' _ **Perhaps that's where Rosa is building her hotel.'**_ Ky squinted at it.

' _ **Didn't Lucas say she was thinking about it?'**_ Spark inquired. ' _ **I don't think work would start that fast, unless she can bend time or something.'**_ She was looking at the small building site, and cocked her head. ' _ **What's that?'**_ She pointed at the air above the site. I looked at the spot she was pointing too, but couldn't see anything, so I closed my eyes and search the area for a Psychic aura. I saw the aura from the beach heading towards us, and smiled. Pulling open the window, I called softly to the invisible creature.

"George, come on." The invisibility flickered, and the little Giratina flew in. "What're you doing here?"

' _ **Just happened to be flying through.'**_ He said.

' _ **Somehow, I highly doubt that.'**_ Ky teased. ' _ **By the way, do you ever use your human form, or are you always a Giratina?'**_ George floated above the floor and glowed white. A boy around fifteen reappeared in his place, with small purple streaks in his black hair.

"Does that answer your question?" He grinned at the Dratini. "I do use this form pretty often, but of course I'm not normally on this world, so I tend to forget that you don't see us."

"So why were you over here?" I asked.

"I was keeping an eye on you. After all, I knew that Lil and Lucas were here, but I'd be a pretty bad friend if I didn't come and check on you after that. And I had heard from a few travellers on the boat that there was a new hotel being built here, bigger than the other one."

"That sounds like it could be helpful for everyone. After all, Lucas said that everything got completely filled with people when the tourists come." Before any of us could react, the door opened.

"Hey again Alex, nice to see you're ok. Rosa wants to meet all you guys." Lillian said, oblivious to our shock as she closed the door. "Good to see you too George. Thanks for the message, by the way. I didn't expect for you to be dropping in."

"Lillian, don't ever do that please, you gave us a heart attack. I thought Ash was coming."

"Sorry, I just kind of ignored the fact that you had a human friend who doesn't know our secret yet. You should tell him, by the way."

"I was thinking that too, but maybe it's best for now that he doesn't know." George added. "Even if it is obnoxious to hide our secret all the time."

"Well, I would recommend you get going, and Alex should be heading down to meet Rosa." Lillian said. George nodded and transformed.

' _ **I'll see you around.'**_ He said to us, opening a portal in the mirror and leaving.

"I like George. He's nice, even if he tends to run in uninvited." Lillian grinned.

"Well, let's head down to the hall then. Have you said to the others yet?"

"Yeah, I sent them down just before you." Lillian shrugged. We didn't talk much on the way down to the hall, and she opened the door. "Hey Rosa, I got Alex."

"Thanks deary." Rosa said, turning around. She was wearing a red shirt and jeans, pretty casual for such a rich person. "Well, it's nice to meet you all. Lillian and Lucas told me about all of you, so I know you're good friends of theirs. They've already told you about me, and as you're all trainers you might recognise me. Though I am from Unova, so maybe not."

 _Wait a second._ I thought. _Rosa… that name does sound familiar…_ Rosa smiled at us all.

"I'm happy for you all to stay here for as long as you want until you continue on your journey. Just don't cause too much trouble. Oh, and be careful at the beach, some of the Pokemon have been restless lately." She smiled at us all, and I knew the others were trying to figure out who Rosa was. I know we'd seen her before somewhere, but I can't think of where.

"Rosa? Do you mind if I show them them our thing?" Lillian asked excitedly.

"Well, it's technically your discovery, so go ahead." Rosa smiled kindly at the excited girl. "Go on you two." Lillian grabbed me and Bella and started dragging us out of the room.

"Come on, I want to show you this!" I glanced back at the amused faces of the rest of the group and rolled my eyes. Amy mouthed back 'Mew' at me, and I hide a smile.

' _Amy, be careful.'_ I said sarcastically.

' _Well, Ash couldn't see it.'_ She retorted. ' _What on earth do you want to show us Lil?'_

' _You'll see.'_ Lillian said, laughing mentally.

' _Ok… Lil, you've officially reached Amy levels of crazy.'_ Crystal sweatdropped.

"Here we are." Lucas broke our mental conversation by stopping us at the door. He reached around his neck and pulled out a small key on a long chain. We moved out of the way and let him open the door. "Leo, you have a Squirtle, don't you?" He nodded. "I think she'd like this room."

"Can I let her out then?" Lucas nodded back.

"Sure." Umiko came out of her Pokeball.

' _ **We battling Leo?'**_ She said… and I just noticed she still has her sunglasses.

"No, Lucas said you'd want to see this room." Leo shrugged.

' _ **Ok. Let's see.'**_ She said curiously.

"Here. Keep this a secret though, I don't want this lost." Lucas warned. We nodded, and Lucas pushed open the door.

"An egg?" Crystal said.

"Around a year ago, we were at the beach with Mizu and she came out of the water with this." Lillian told us. "We bought it back here and have been keeping an eye on it."

' _ **Wow. There are a lot of waterfalls here.'**_ Umiko said, surprised. A Pokemon splashed out of the river running around the island and landed in front of the shiny.

' _ **One of these leads to the ocean.'**_ Mizu smiled. ' _ **Lillian made it so I could swim along to here and help look after the egg.'**_ I smiled.

"Feel free to go and swim around." Lillian said to them. Mizu pulled her along into the water, and they disappeared. "She's quite cute. It's nice that they're already friends."

"What kind of egg is this?" Ash asked. For the first time, I looked at the egg properly. It was blue, with a red orb in the middle, a ring of yellow one above it.

"We don't know either. Mizu found it when swimming and asked one of her friends to help carry it up to us." Lucas said. "When it hatches, we'll take care of it here and then let May look after it in the water."

"How do you know it'll be a Water type?" Ash asked, clueless. We facepalmed.

"Ash, they found it underwater!" Crystal shouted.

' _ **Dang Ash, how stupid can you be?'**_ Pikachu sighed.

' _ **Very. Now I'm going swimming after the others.'**_ Ky said, sliding out of my bag and diving into the water. I rolled my eyes.

' _ **I would follow, but I can't swim underwater very well.'**_ Spark added, and Pikachu nodded. I walked over to the egg and put my hand on it, listening to the aura I could feel within.

"Do you take it outside at all?" I asked the two Lugia hybrids.

"Sometimes. We have to be careful in case it gets stolen." Lil answered. ' _I swim with it sometimes as a Lugia.'_

"It feels… off, somehow." I said, frowning. I could feel it pulsing under my hand in a strange way. It doesn't feel right. Umiko, Mizu and Ky popped out of the water, stopping anyone from replying. I took my hand off and smiled at them, deciding to ignore it for now. After all, I trust that Lil and Lucas are able to take care of it properly.

' _ **I hadn't noticed there was an egg here.'**_ Umiko frowned at it. ' _ **I think I've seen something like this before.'**_

"Guys, lets go get some dinner, shall we?" Lucas said, oblivious to Umiko's comment. Ash perked up and followed them out of the room.

"What do you mean Umiko?" Leo asked, crouching down next to her.

' _ **I'll tell you later.'**_ She said sadly, walking out the door. I exchanged a confused look with the rest of them, and followed to the dining room.

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 **AN: That's this chapter over!**

 **P: Does Rosa remind you of anyone?**

 **T: Please tell me we're doing the backstory now.**

 **SV: Yeah, after we do the uploads for the other story.**

 **T: Finally!**

 **P: What about the main story? I'm enjoying this.**

 **SV: After the backstory. Don't worry about it. Also, what did you think about the peek into Alex's past?**

 **P: Well, we'll see you next time!**


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Backstory!**

 **T: Yes! I love these!**

 **P: Who is it?**

 **SV: As you two are so excited, I'll keep this short. I don't own Pokemon, now let's roll Umiko's backstory!**

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 **Special Chapter 2: Umiko's Ruined Life.**

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Hiya! I'm Umiko, Leo's shiny Squirtle! I guess you want to know how I ended up in the Squirtle Squad with the others, huh? Well, let me tell you!

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It started a really long time ago. I was hatched in a region called Almia, as a part of the Pokemon Ranger School there. I lived there, and it was quite fun. They used me, along with some other Pokemon there, to teach lessons to the kids and practise with those styler things they used. Some of the adults were surprised to see I had a different colour to most Squirtle, but because I was well behaved, they didn't mind too much. It's actually quite funny to think I was so well behaved, then went on to join a gang of pranksters. Anyway, I would sometimes explore around the building at night, so I wasn't perfect. About a year after I had hatched, I wandered into the basement one time, even though no one's supposed to go there. There were two kids down there. I knew one of them was Kieth, one of the Rangers in training here, but I didn't know who the other one was. She had brown hair, in two ponytails, and seemed to be looking for something.

' _ **It should be around here.'**_ Keith whispered.

' _ **Can you remind me why we need to do this again?'**_ The girl asked.

' _ **Kate, I told you, it's the initiation test.'**_ Keith said, exasperated. I'd never seen an initiation test before, except the one where they capture one of us with a styler. I watched curiously from behind a box as they searched around for whatever they needed. I heard a noise coming from the room next to here, and my eyes widened. None of the students were supposed to be here, and not even out of bed at night! I ran out from behind the box and tapped Kate on the leg. She turned, looking around before she saw me.

"Quick! You can't be found down here!" I said frantically.

' _ **What's wrong little one?'**_ She asked. I sweatdropped; I sometimes forget that humans don't understand us. I tugged at her sleeve, pulling her out of the basement. ' _ **Keith! I think this Squirtle wants us to follow it!'**_

' _ **Ok.'**_ He said back, following me. I pulled them into a room that I knew was normally locked, but one of my friends had unlocked earlier, and closed the door. I listened as the person who had been in the other room walked down the hallway, not even thinking to look at the room we were in. After all, the room is never open. As they left, I relaxed. Keith looked through the keyhole. ' _ **Mr. Kincaid! We got really lucky there.'**_

' _ **Who's he?'**_ Kate asked.

' _ **One of the teachers. He's super strict.'**_ Keith explained to her. He looked at me. ' _ **Thanks for your help. Kate, let's go get that last styler.'**_

"No! I'll get it for you, I can hide better if he comes back. You stay here." I shook my head as I talked, knowing they can't understand me.

' _ **I don't think Squirtle wants us to go.'**_ Kate said, surprising me with her guess. ' _ **If you're sure, go ahead. Do you know what the stylers look like?'**_ I nodded, and slide out the door back into the basement. I looked around in the faint light, wishing that a Charmander or Pikachu were here to light it up. I searched the room, and found it hidden near the door that the teacher must have come out of. I couldn't hear anyone in the room, and wanted to push open the door and look inside, but I needed to get the styler back to the students so they don't get caught out of bed. I grabbed the huge styler and ran back to the room, pushing open the door and handing the styler to Keith.

"Now, go! You don't want to be caught by the teachers." I told them, keeping the door open for them.

' _ **Thank you.'**_ Kate said as she walked past, patting me on the head. ' _ **You should go too.'**_ I nodded, and walked towards the Pokemon rooms, and smiled back at them.

"Hello Squirtle." A voice said, making me jump. "Making friends with the students, are we?"

"Hello Umbreon." I turned, relaxing. "Why are you here?"

"I was checking around the building." He said. "It's my job, after all."

"Right." I forgot that Umbreon and Espeon guarded the Ranger School at night.

"Don't worry, I won't Rattata you out. After all, my sister would go crazy if she knew you were out this late." I winced, as did Umbreon. "Come on, let's get going."

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I didn't see Keith and Kate for a few weeks, until a night when a huge rainstorm was going on. I had slipped out of the school to go outside, even if it was night and Espeon would go crazy if she found me. I shrugged off that fact and went to the Pledge Stone. I loved going there, as it was close to the ocean, and I loved watching the waves. However, when I got there, there was a person sitting on the stone. I looked curiously at them; why would a human be out here in the rain? When I got there, I saw it was Kate.

' _ **Hello Squirtle. How come you're out here?'**_ She asked.

"I should really be asking you that." I told her, even if she can't understand me. To my surprise, she chuckled.

' _ **I guess you should. It's not often you'd see a human sitting in the rain, huh?'**_ I blinked in shock.

"You… understood me?"

' _ **Yeah. My whole family can understand Pokespeech.'**_ She said, looking at the rain. ' _ **It's actually the reason I wanted to become a Pokemon Ranger. Because I can understand Pokemon, I can try and help Pokemon and understand their problems better.'**_

"That makes sense. Though, I've heard it takes years for people to understand us perfectly."

' _ **Well, I had… a little help.'**_ She said embarrassedly.

"Who from?" I asked, but Kate seemed not to hear me.

' _ **It's getting late. We should go in before we get caught by that Espeon.'**_ She picked me up, looked back at the Pledge Stone before walking back in.

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The next day, I went back out to the Pledge Stone. The ground was pretty muddy, and I slipped a few times as I walked around. I had been here in daylight a few times, and always loved looking at the promises etched in the stone. I jumped up to the stone, and saw a new promise written there. I read it silently.

 _I'll work for the smiles of Pokemon and people. I'll become a Top Ranger and protect this region to the best of my abilities. Kate._ I smiled. She must have done this last night before I arrived. I wish I knew enough human language to write a promise here, but I don't think that will ever happen. A red thing caught my eye, and I looked over to the cliff. A blue shape sat there, glinting in the sunlight and balanced on the edge. I ran over, pulling it closer to the Pledge Stone. It was a blue oval, with a red orb in the center, and a ring of yellow ones above it. I gasped, realising this thing must be an egg. I carried it into a bush to hide it, and ran back to the school. I got lucky with that day being a day off, so the students weren't in class. I looked around for Kate, and spotted her with Keith and Rhythmi, another student who wanted to become an Operator. I knew Kate would pretend not to understand me, so I went over and tapped her on the leg.

"Kate! Come quick, I've found something!" Kate looked puzzled at my comment, and crouched down.

' _ **Is something wrong Squirtle?'**_

"Yes, I've found something odd at the Pledge Stone. Follow me." I pulled at her, taking her to the Stone.

' _ **What's up with her?'**_ Rhythmi asked.

' _ **Isn't that the Squirtle who helped us the other week? What does she want?'**_ Keith added.

' _ **I don't know, but let's follow her. She lead us out of trouble last time, so maybe this is as important.'**_ I nodded, still pulling her along. I took the three to the bush I had hidden the egg, and pulled it out, handing it to Kate.

' _ **What's that?'**_ Keith asked.

' _ **It looks like an egg.'**_ Rhythmi stated what I already knew.

' _ **I'd bet it is. You two, go get Ms. April and bring her here. I'll stay with the egg.'**_ They nodded and ran off.

"You know, I think you'd make a great Top Ranger, and a great leader too." I told her, and she blushed.

' _ **You read the promise already?'**_

"Yeah. It was actually when I came here and read that I found the egg and came to you."

' _ **Do you know what kind of egg it is?'**_

"No. Do you?" She shook her head.

' _ **I can feel a powerful aura in this egg, but nothing else.'**_ I frowned, completely ignoring the rest of the statement. I heard footsteps behind us, and was ready to use Water Gun to protect the strange egg, but Ms. April and the other students came running towards us.

' _ **Kate! Keith and Rhythmi said you found a Pokemon egg! Is that true?'**_

' _ **Actually, Squirtle here found it.'**_ She said, which cut off our conversation as she stood. ' _ **She brought us over here.'**_

' _ **I see.'**_ Ms. April smiled at me, and I grinned back, happy I had helped. ' _ **Well, we should take it to the incubator room and take care of it.'**_ They all nodded, and Kate walked with me to the room.

"Here, put the egg here." I told her, jumping up next to the container and opening the lid. "I'm going to take care of it in here for a while. You go back and have fun."

' _ **Sure. Hey… when I become a Ranger, would you like to be one of my partner Pokemon?'**_

"I… sure! That'd be great!" I said happily. She patted my head.

' _ **Thanks. I've got to go now. I'll see you later.'**_ She walked out, and I sat next to the egg, withdrawing into my shell and falling asleep, grinning at the fact that Kate wanted me to be her partner Pokemon.

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Sadly, that never got to happen. I don't remember much of what happened that night, but the first thing I really remember well was crying. It sounded like a child, and that startled me awake. It seemed to be shouting a name, but I couldn't tell you what it was. Anyway, I woke up, popping out of my shell. I found myself in a cage, and the incubator with the egg was nearby. I looked around widely, and a voice laughed.

' _ **Don't look so worried. It won't help you anyway.'**_ I looked in the direction of the voice, but the person was obscured in shadows. ' _ **You have a rare egg here, so we'll be taking you both.'**_ We started to move, and an engine roared. We must be in a van of some sort. We drove out of the school, and I could hear the egg crying. The person seemed oblivious to this, and walked out, going into the front of the truck. All of a sudden, the crying got louder. It almost seemed like the egg knew that a person was in the room, and didn't cry as much. It was crying more now, and I felt really bad that I couldn't help it. I withdrew back into my shell, wanting to cry myself, wishing Kate was able to help us. I listened to the truck, following its motions. I had been out a few times as part of internships for the Rangers in Vientown, and realised we were heading for Nabiki Beach. We must be getting picked up by a boat. We pulled to a stop, and the two people came out of the front. One picked up my cage, and the other got the egg. I didn't do anything, not wanting to endanger the egg, and let them carry us onto a boat.

' _ **You two nitwits got it?'**_

' _ **And a bonus prize.'**_ The one holding me said.

' _ **Right. Drop them in the back, load the truck and hit the deck. We've got a good five hour boat trip back.'**_ They nodded and left, going to get the truck. The person in front sighed, and I came out of my shell as they walked over to us. She inspected the egg first, then looked at me and grinned. ' _ **Good. A successful mission.'**_ She walked back into the front part, leaving the door open. I saw her push a button, and a screen came up. A boy appeared, with black hair, streaked with blue, and wearing a blue suit, lined with red.

' _ **Agent Flare, what's the report?'**_

' _ **A success, and a bonus for the boss.'**_ The girl, identified as Agent Flare said, moving out of the way and letting us be seen. ' _ **Heading back now. Is everything ready for our return, Agent Soul?'**_ The boy flinched at the name.

' _ **I told you, it's not Agent Soul, it's Luc…'**_

' _ **We're only Elites when the grunts are around. We aren't technically part of the group, so we're Agents, not Elites.'**_

' _ **Fine.'**_ He rolled his eyes. ' _ **Anyway, Commander Stone has gotten Agent Bolt to set everything up for your arrival.'**_

' _ **Right.'**_ Agent Flare said. She turned to look out the door. ' _ **The grunts are coming back.'**_

' _ **I'll take my leave then.'**_ Agent Soul replied. ' _ **Good luck. I'll see you when you get back.'**_ They saluted to each other, and Agent Soul disconnected.

' _ **Urg, eighteen and acts more immature than the others sometimes.'**_ Agent Flare groaned.

' _ **Captain, are we leaving now?'**_ One of the grunts said.

' _ **Yes. Now, go get some rest, we've a five hour trip.'**_ He saluted too, and left. Agent Flare kicked a few things, and the boat started, going extremely fast for such a big boat. I heard the egg stop crying for a second, and then shout.

' _Aunty Kyogre! Help!'_ Kyogre? A legendary Pokemon, here? I thought they were from Hoenn. Well, maybe they can help us. Also, why in Mew's name is an egg crying and shouting? That makes zero sense, now I think about it properly. Anyway, I went back into my shell, going back to sleep.

I woke up to Agent Flare shouting.

' _ **Get up you grunts! We'll be at the base in 30 minutes!'**_ There was a lot of scrabbling upstairs as the others got up. Flare looked out the front window. ' _ **Great, a storm. Just what I wanted.'**_ I had come out of my shell, and was looking around. The girl walked back into the control room, and the egg shouted again.

' _Please, Aunty Kyogre! Help us!'_ After that cry had finished, the boat tipped, sending me flying into the wall of my cage. The egg didn't move, however, which was strange. A Hyper Beam ripped through the hull, smashing the incubator and a wall of my cage. I ran out and grabbed the egg, holding it tight. The grunts ran down, and gaped at the hole.

' _ **Lapras, come out!'**_ Flare said, sending out the Ice and Water Pokemon from a strange ball. She climbed on its back. ' _ **Gyarados, you too!'**_ The Pokemon stared at its trainer. ' _ **You too, get on. We'll surf to the base.'**_ She patted on the back of her Pokemon, which surfed off. The grunts exchanged a nervous glance before climbing on to the Gyarados, which followed its trainer. I jumped out, holding tightly onto the egg, before getting hit by something, separating me and the egg. I tried to swim towards it, but a little blue Pokemon rammed into me, knocking me out.

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I woke up in a cave, and looked around wildly for the egg. I couldn't find it, which worried me, but then I realised that the egg had been crying for Aunty Kyogre, so Kyogre must have been nearby and taking care of it. A Pokemon walked in and looked at me.

"Good, you're awake. What happened?"

"That's a very good question." I said, slowly sitting up. "I was captured from my home in Almia, then the boat crashed and something knocked me out."

"That's odd… though, I don't really expect anything less from humans." He said sourly. I blinked. "Anyway, I'm the leader of the Squirtle Squad. We prank trainers and the nearby city. It's a ton of fun, and gives us a group to stay together as. Feel like joining?" I thought for a little while. At the Ranger School, I had been fairly well behaved, but why not?

"Sure, sounds like fun." He grinned.

"Glad to have you on board. Stay here and rest for a while, I'll get you some glasses." I stayed with these guys for about three weeks, messing with trainers and other people around the city. Then, one day, the Boss called us all together.

"What's up Boss?" Number One said. Yeah, we were all referred to by numbers, even then. I was Five, as I was the most recent addition.

"Well, I'm going on a trip. I don't know how long I'll be gone, so for now, I'm passing on the job of Boss."

"Who to?" Three asked.

"Actually, Miss Shiny Five here." Everyone looked at me, surprised.

"Why me?" I asked, shocked. "I'm the newest."

"But I can tell you'd be a good leader." He said, patting me on the head. He swapped our glasses around. "For now, you're the official boss. When I come back, we can swap back, but it doesn't matter too much. Now, I need to go. Good luck, Boss." He smiled at me, and walked out of the pond entrance. We all stared, dumbstruck, at the exit for a few minutes, before Two looked at me.

"Well, you're the Boss now." He said. "What do we do?" I looked around at the rest of the group, who all looked a little downtrodden.

"Well…" I said slowly. "I say, we keep doing what we always do." They looked up brightly at me, and we smiled at each other, before running out of the back entrance to hit the town.

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You all know most of the rest of my story. It's been a year, and now the Squirtle Squad is disbanded, with One to Four having gone with Diana when I left to go on a journey with Leo. One nice thing is being part of a hybrid group, so we get a lot of great training and weird adventures. Maybe someday I'll find that odd egg and save it. Maybe it's already hatched. Or maybe, just maybe, it's the egg Lillian and Lucas found, and as such is safe. Kate… I might be able to get back home to Almia someday, and be back with my best friend again. Maybe I can take her up on the option of being her partner Pokemon, and reassure her that I'm fine.

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 **AN: Wasn't that fun?**

 **T: That was nice. And I'm ok with waiting so long.**

 **P: And in case you're wondering, yes, it's the Almia and Kate from Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia.**

 **SV: In case you can't tell, I have a thing for shadows. Anyway, sorry if you find the backstories boring, but I quite like writing up pasts for the characters and their Pokemon.**

 **T: I don't think anyone finds these boring, but that's just me. And is that egg the same one?**

 **SV: Maybe. At the time of writing this chapter, I didn't know either. Anyway, I'll bet everyone's curious about these agents, huh? Who is Agent Flare? And what was Agent Soul trying to say before she cut him off?**

 **P: Where did the original boss of the Squirtle Squad go? And why didn't he come back for a year?**

 **SV: These are all great questions, and we'll come back with the answer another time! Or maybe we won't. You never know.**

 **T: See you next time!**


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Hey again guys! Happy Easter!**

 **T: We might actually get something done this week!**

 **P: Don't say it like that, it makes it sound like nothing ever really happens in this story.**

 **SV: Well, I will admit it hasn't had much plot. And I haven't written on it for a while, I was busy beating Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia again.**

 **P: Yeah, Shadow has a thing for buying extra copies of games so she can beat them again.**

 **T: Well, Shadow doesn't own Pokemon, let's go!**

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 **Chapter 43.**

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I was looking out the window, staring constantly at the construction site on the rock. Boats would sometimes move between the island and here, and move back again. Spark had wandered off somewhere, and Ky had followed her to make sure she didn't do something stupid. I looked at one of the boats heading back to the island, and frowned.

"I wish I could see the side of the boat." I said angrily. "Then I could see the name of the person who owns them."

"I know what you mean." Lillian said, teleporting next to me. I jumped, then sighed.

"Can you not?" I said to her.

"Sorry. I'm used to being here with everyone knowing about our powers. I might have forgotten that you have a human friend who doesn't know our secret."

"No, it's ok. It's more the fact that you made me jump."

"Ok. By the way, are you ever going to tell Ash?"

"Well, as soon as we know he won't react badly, like freaking out or trying to attack us, then sure." I pulled my gaze from the window, and smiled at Lillian. "Do you know what's going on there?"

"Yeah. A person called Brutella owns the little hotel Lucas told you about, and her cousin Nastina wants to dig into that rocky island and build a bigger hotel there. Rosa wants to build a hotel here too, but she wants to make sure it doesn't interrupt the environment, so she hasn't been doing much about it." Lillian peered at the island too. "When I've been swimming, some of the water types have seemed pretty angry about it. Lucas and Mizu have been having the same experiences, but Mizu's especially angry, as she's still a wild Pokemon, so she lives in the ocean." She shook her head. "I really don't understand how humans can be so selfish."

"I don't either." I replied. ' _Although, we hybrids haven't been any better at some points.'_

' _True.'_ She smiled."Come on, Rosa's just finishing making dinner." I nodded. "Where's Spark and Kydyur?"

"That's a good question. They went running off." I said. "Hang on a second." ' _Spark, Ky, come on, dinner's almost ready.'_ I could hear Spark running around somewhere outside, and she came jetting back into my room. "That's one good way to get her back fast."

"I'd say so." Lillian laughed, hearing Spark come bolting towards us. "Where's Ky?"

"She'll be here in a second or two. She isn't quite as enthusiastic as Spark." I said, a small grin passing over both our faces as Spark burst through the door.

' _ **I heard something about food.'**_ She panted. ' _ **When?'**_

"Rosa's just finishing cooking." Lillian told her. Spark hopped up to my shoulder and nudged me. Ky slid into the room too, and slipped over behind me. I crouched down and picked her up too, letting her sit on my shoulders too. She poked Spark lightly on the back.

' _ **Did you need to run off like that?'**_

' _ **But Alex mentioned food.'**_ She whined.

' _ **Did you get mind swapped with Ash or something? Because you're never normally that excited.'**_

"Come on you two, don't go bickering and let's go downstairs." I said, rolling my eyes at their silliness as we walked out. Lillian giggled quietly.

' _I like these two, they're funny.'_

' _I know that, but they drive me crazy after a while.'_ I replied. ' _I've had to deal with this for around… nine months or so?'_ I calculated. ' _It's been quite a long time.'_

' _I've been friends with Mizu for years. She's always been a good friend, and helped us out in a good many situations. I'll have to tell you some of them sometime.'_ Lillian lead us down to the dinner room.

' _ **How on earth do you know this place so well? I'm already lost.'**_ Spark said helplessly.

' _ **They probably pay attention when walking around.'**_ Ky said back.

' _I do understand why they can get annoying.'_ Lillian said to me, shaking her head.

' _Yeah. They normally get along ok, but if they start to argue they stay going back and forth for a good five minutes.'_ Lillian pushed open one of the doors, and we found ourselves in a huge hall. We walked down it, and a trophy caught my eye. I moved closer to look at it, and Spark jumped over to talk to Lillian. I looked over it quickly, and the words 'Unova Pokemon League' engraved on it. I stopped and took a closer look, trying to find a date for when it was won, or the place, but Lil called me over.

"Alex! Come on, we're just in here!" I left the trophy alone and walked over to her. Spark was sitting on her shoulder, and as we caught up she hopped over to me.

' _ **What's wrong?'**_ She whispered to me.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter." I whispered back. Lillian pushed open the huge doors and pulled me over to the table.

"Give me a second, I'll help Rosa with the food before Ash gets here." Lil walked into the side room, and Ky slid off my shoulder and curled up on the table next to me.

"Ky, why are you always so tired?" I grinned, poking her in the side. "You always seem to be sleeping when we're doing something."

' _ **Sorry. I'm just really tired.'**_ She said, moving her head to look at me. ' _ **Anyway, we haven't really done too much recently. Although we did get stuck on a sinking ship.'**_

' _ **Yeah.'**_ Spark said, sitting next to her. ' _ **I'm blaming you for that by the way Alex.'**_

"What?" I said, feigning hurt. "What did I do to cause us to be stuck?"

' _ **Huh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you said to wait until everyone else had gotten of first, despite the fact that you all wouldn't be able to transform as Ash still doesn't know about you all being hybrids?'**_ Spark said sarcastically.

' _ **Can I just mention how great a plan that was?'**_ Ky added. ' _ **Like, what was the actual goal?'**_

"I… don't really know myself. At that point I was thinking of shifting anyway and leaving the consequences to sort themselves out." I said honestly. "There wasn't really much of a point to it at all, but I wanted to let other people get off first."

' _ **Alex. You are, without a doubt, one of the stupidest people I have ever seen.'**_ Ky said, shaking her head.

' _ **I would second that, but Ash was worse at the start of the journey.'**_ Spark replied. ' _ **At least Alex wasn't being too incompetent, because she knew we could all get out in some way.'**_ I rolled my eyes, and Lil walked in with a few plates floating around her and giggled.

"It really is fun to listen to these two. It's quite cute." Both of them looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

' _ **Are you going to get Ash now Lil?'**_ Spark asked her. She shook her head.

"No, he'll be down here in a minute or so. Along with the rest of the girls." As she said that, Lucas and Leo walked in too, laughing about something. They both sat down on my right, and Spark went over next to them. Leo patted her on the head.

"I see the others aren't down yet." Leo stated.

"Ash isn't either. But knowing him, he probably got lost on the way out of the hall." We laughed, and the other three girls walked in too.

"What're you lot laughing at?" Amy asked, sitting down along the other side.

' _ **Oh, just the fact that Ash is probably lost already.'**_ Ky snickered. ' _ **He'll never learn his way around here.'**_

"I wouldn't blame him though." Lucas added. "It took us a while to learn our way round here too." Just as he said that, Pikachu walked in, with Ash in tow.

' _ **Guys, Ash is the worst at directions.'**_ He huffed.

' _ **We've known that for years at this point.'**_ Ky told him as he jumped up next to her. ' _ **We've had to dig him out of trouble a few times.'**_

' _ **Like when he went out with Koray to help Alex search for a missing Pokemon.'**_ Spark added. ' _ **He got attacked by the same Fearow flock we were attacked by.'**_ Pikachu chuckled, and Ash looked at them in confusion.

"What're they talking about?"

"Don't worry about it." Crystal brushed him off. Lillian walked in holding two plates.

' _I felt that Ash had arrived.'_ She told us telepathically. She put down the two plates and took her seat next to Lucas. Rose then walked in too, and sat next to her. We ate quietly, with Rosa sometimes questioning us about our journey. She liked to talk about Unova too, and would talk about her own journey.

"I had a couple of rival's, Nate and Hugh. We competed at any chance we had. We all started our journeys at the same time too, so we were at similar points during the entire journey. We'd often stop to watch each other's gym battles to get a sense of how powerful we had become. What about you six?" She asked. "Do you battle your rival?"

"We have two." I said. "Blue started at around the same time as Amy and Bella, while Gary left just before Leo."

"We've battled with Blue a few times." Bella added. "It took a few lost battles to realise that he wasn't the greatest trainer. He was still a little cocky though."

"And we've not run into Gary at all." Leo continued. Rosa nodded, and started talking about an encounter she had had with a strange Pokemon. Suddenly, an explosion echoed in the distance, and we jumped.

"What on earth was that?" Amy asked.

"I really hope you were being sarcastic there, Amy." Crystal said. Amy glared at her, and she grinned. "We should go find out." Rosa nodded in agreement, and stood.

"I'll be back." She quickly left the room. I shot a quizzical look at to the two Lugia hybrids, but they shook their heads.

"I have no idea where she's going." Lucas said to me.

"She does this often actually." Lillian added. "We've never figured out where she goes."

"Well, let's go and check out what that explosion was." I said hurriedly. The others nodded, and we ran out, Spark, Pikachu and Ky jumping up to myself and Ash.

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 **Chapter 44.**

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Lillian and Lucas lead the way to the front, and we looked out over the small city. A giant robot Dragonite was stomping up the beach, firing a few Hyper Beams. Ash gaped at it.

"That thing's huge!" The disguised Lugia nodded, but I closed my eyes. All Pokemon, regardless of if they were Psychic type or not, had the vaguest bit of Psychic aura, which any hybrid or powerful Psychic Pokemon can track. I noticed that George's aura was still flying around, then dismissed it and looked directly at the Dragonite.

"That isn't a real Dragonite." I stated, opening my eyes again.

"What?" Ash asked. "What do you mean?"

"Look at the way it's moving." I said, pointing at it. "And also, when it looked over here, it's eyes seemed to be made of glass." Just as I said that, it turned towards us, using Hyper Beam at a part of the city nearby. The sun reflected off the glass eyes, and Lillian nodded.

"You're right." She said.

' _Did you look for it's aura too?'_ Amy said, and I realised she must have been looking as well.

"Yeah." I replied, answering both of them. "We should try and stop it."

"We don't have many Pokemon though." Lucas said. "And you don't have the most powerful teams yourselves."

"Power isn't everything." Leo said. "Come on, let's go down." We ran down the path to the city, and ran straight into a few familiar faces.

"Team Rocket!" Ash growled. "What're you doing here?"

"Well, currently, trying to get away from those stupid 'Elites'." Jessie sneered.

"Elites?" Bella asked. "Who're they?"

"Butch and Cassidy." Meowth said, and the name sent Jessie raging again.

"They aren't even real Elites! They just pretend to be so that they're feared!"

"Actually Jess, they are real Elites." James said calmly. "They got promoted a little while back."

"What!" Jessie exclaimed, even more angry. "How did those idiots get promoted? They rarely do _anything_ for the boss."

"Apparently one of those Elites in the the Boss's special division promoted them for showing promise to be helpful." James explained.

"Hey!" Meowth shouted, scratching his two partners. "We're right in front of the twerps! Are you trying to give away everything?"

"Anyway, that still doesn't answer the main question." I said. "Why are you three here?"

"Well, we were actually taking a break." James said embarrassedly. "Unofficially. The Boss has been pretty mad with us lately, so we decided we would stay away from base for a while."

' _I wonder why the boss could be mad.'_ Amy said, with a hint of sarcasm.

' _It couldn't possibly be because they're terrible, could it?'_ Crystal chimed.

"Well, we're going to try and stop that giant Dragonite." Leo said snappishly. "If you want to come, stay out of our way. If not, feel free to run off to wherever to you would want to go." We ran past them again, sprinting towards the Dragonite. I was last, and turned back as we rounded the corner. Team Rocket stood next to each other, a conflicted look on each of their faces. I ran quickly to follow the others, and we stopped a block away from the huge Dragonite.

"Spark." I said quietly, not wanting to draw attention to us. "Do you think you could get up there fast enough to break one of the eyes?"

' _ **Sure, but why?'**_

"Then we can get you into the control room at a later point to fry them."

"Maybe we can get some Water Pokemon to help." Lillian added.

"Go ahead." I told them, and they ran back in the direction we had came, looking for a place they could transform without being seen. "Ok Spark, go for it." She nodded, and used Quick Attack to jump further. Ky poked her head out of the bag and fired a small Dragon Pulse at her back. This made her go flying towards the robot, and her tail glowed as it turned to steel and smash the left eye of the robot. It swung around at the hit, looking directly at the island. As luck would have it, it had started charging a Hyper Beam moments before, and it released the move while looking at the island. The island was almost completely destroyed, and the power from the robot's attack sent ripples across the water.

' _Damn this ghost typing!'_ George scowled. ' _I would have blocked it if I could.'_

' _Don't worry about it.'_ Lucas said.

' _How's things going with you two?'_ Amy asked.

' _Well, the explosion has angered a few of the Tentacool that live on the reef near the island, but…'_ A roar echoed in the area. ' _What in the name of Arceus was that?'_

' _Hey, we didn't do anything.'_ I said jokingly.

"What was that?" Ash repeated Lucas question. A Marill ran up out of the water and came to us.

' _ **Alex, everyone!'**_ Mizu said frantically as she ran towards us. ' _ **That explosion angered the giant Tentacruel that lives in the reef!'**_

"That doesn't sound good." Crystal said worriedly, while Bella told Ash what Mizu said. The ground shook again as the huge Tentacruel pulled itself out of the ocean and faced the Dragonite. The Dragonite seemed to only be able to use Hyper Beam, as it shot a few of them at the giant Pokemon. Meanwhile, the jellyfish blocked the attack with Sludge Wave, and would use Hydro Pump to knock it off balance. An Aurora Beam hit the Tentacruel in the back, making him fall forwards into another Hyper Beam. We had all just been watching the battle and gasped as a Cloyster shot itself up to the eye of the robot and left something, before being returned. Spark had been hanging up there, unable to jump down while they were above water. She used Quick Attack to run down, moving faster than ever, and landed next to me.

' _ **Alex! That Cloyster somehow got it's hands on the egg!'**_ She panicked.

"What!" We all exclaimed, panicking. Well, everyone bar Ash, who didn't know what she said. "How did they get it!"

' _ **No clue, but we need to get it back.'**_

"Right." Bella took charge instantly, making a plan to get the egg back. "Leo, get Zephyr out. Spark, hop on and get him to fly you up. Shock everyone and get the egg to Zephyr. Alex, get some of your Pokemon to distract it."

"We'll all help." Crystal said. "The more people to distract it, the less likely it'll be that the two piloting it can stop Spark and Zephyr." Bella nodded. Lillian and Lucas slipped back to us.

' _We got your message.'_ Lillian said.

"What should we do?" Lucas asked. "I don't have my team with me right now."

"Just stay here. When Spark gets back, you two should take the egg back to Rosa's place." They nodded in agreement, and the six of us sent out our teams. Well, half for the girls. Two new Pokemon came from Amy and Crystal; a Kingdra and a Banette.

' _ **What's wrong?'**_ The Kingdra asked calmly.

"Dracona, we need to provide cover for Spark and Zephyr to get back a very precious egg." Crystal instructed her.

"Marionette, you help too." Amy added to her Banette.

"Same for us, team." We told our Pokemon.

' _ **Of course!'**_ They chorused.

"Spark, Zephyr, time to go." I grinned at them. "Give them a shocking they won't forget anytime soon." She grinned evilly back at me, and hopped onto the Pidgeottos back.

' _ **Oh, I will.'**_ She said as they flew towards the robot.

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 **AN: Next time, we'll crack open that robot!**

 **T: And a few other things, I'm sure.**

 **P: Trix, no spoilers!**

 **T: It wasn't anything major.**

 **SV: A few important things will be there for you to note in the next chapter, though I suppose you won't realise until I mention what they are.**

 **P: That's enough with the hints, you two. But I wanna know who those Special Division Elites were that promoted Butch and Cassidy.**

 **SV: All in due time. See you next time!**


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Hello all!**

 **T: Can we talk about the Special Division Elites yet?**

 **P: Trix, Shadow'll get to those eventually. After all, they might be crucial to the plot later.**

 **T: All the more reason to talk about them now.**

 **SV: Guys, calm down. You'll meet all of them later. For now, enjoy this chapter.**

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 **Chapter 45.**

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I watched as Spark flew towards the robot with Zephyr, grinning inwardly at her actions. She could be too dangerous sometimes.

"Right team." Bella instructed. "Start firing attacks at the robot. We need to distract it." Our Pokemon nodded, and started using their long range attacks against it. I grabbed my Pokedex, and Ash did the same as we swapped out the baby Pokemon we had obtained on the boat for the two Clefairy. Their Pokeballs arrived a moment later, and we brought them into the party too.

' _ **Woah!'**_ Lunar said, looking around us. ' _ **What's happening?'**_

"To cut a long story short, the Dragonite is a robot, the people piloting it are in Team Rocket, and they stole an egg that's very important to us. Spark and Zephyr have gone to get it back, and we need to distract it so they don't get attacked." I quickly explained.

' _ **Oh. Ok then.'**_ Star shrugged. ' _ **What's with the Tentacruel?'**_

"Not sure. It just arrived after an explosion wrecked an island." Star looked worried, and I rushed to reassure her. "Don't worry, no one was on there."

"Can you two help attack the robot?" Ash asked. They nodded, and joined the group of Pokemon that were causing a distraction. Ash looked at me. "So what now?"

"Now we wait." I answered. "And hope those two do ok."

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 ***Spark's POV.***

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"Hold on tight Spark, the rides about to get a little bumpy." Zephyr warned me. He had to suddenly turn right to dodge a Thunderbolt from the ground, most likely from Ash's Pikachu.

"They need to work on their aim." I muttered, adjusting myself to stay on his back.

"Maybe Alex can set up a target range in one of her worlds." Zephyr suggested.

"Except that Ash still doesn't know." I replied.

"Good point." He said, then sharply turned upwards, causing a Sludge Wave to fly underneath us. "I'll try and keep the ride smooth when we have the egg back. Try and hold it still." He swooped near the Dragonite.

"Aim for the left eye." I said. "That's the one I managed to shatter."

"You're on it Cap!" He cawed. I prepared a Quick Attack, ready to dive through the window the second we got close enough. He swooped past the eye a few times, letting me get a sense for the inside before I made the jump. "Off you go Sparky!" I jumped into the air, falling for a fraction of a second before using Quick Attack to dash through the window. I bashed into something, and it took me a moment to realise that it was the green haired guy that had looked like James when I had landed to smash the window. I didn't even bother to look round at the inside anymore than I already had done and let loose a Thunderbolt. The two in here fell to the floor, and I looked frantically for the egg. I spotted it in the corner, in a small cage. I would have let loose another bolt of lightning in my anger at the egg being put in a cage, but I knew I needed to hurry and get out. I ran over and used Iron Tail to destroy the cage, and pulled the egg out of it. I carefully wobbled over to the eye again, being very careful not to drop the egg. I swept my gaze across the sky, looking for Zephyr. I saw him a while away, using Air Cutter to distract the Tentacruel.

"Zephyr!" I called. "Time to go!" He turned, flying over to the eye and landing on the rim. I carefully climbed onto his back again.

"Hold tight." He warned me.

"Just go!" I rolled my eyes. He lept off and dove, heading back to Alex and the group. Zephyr kept readjusting the descent, trying to make sure that he didn't knock me and the egg off. We didn't bother to keep an eye on our surroundings, just focusing on getting the egg to safety. Which proved to be a bad idea around ten seconds later.

' _Guys, look out!'_ Alex shouted to us both telepathically. Zephyr instantly started rolling left, and and another Sludge Wave went underneath us. I started slipping slightly, and struggled to move further along so as not to fall to the floor. Zephyr must have remembered that he had a passenger, and quickly straightened out again.

"Sorry bud. I had to move quickly so we didn't get knocked out of the sky."

"That's fine. Don't stress too much about it." I replied, settling back onto his back.

' _Don't settle down too soon.'_ Alex came in again. ' _The Tentacruel looks really mad, I recommend… watch out!'_ Zephyr started moving again, but the giant Pokemon must have foreseen that, because an attack hit Zephyr directly, knocking both of us out of the sky, and separating the egg from me. I started preparing a Quick Attack to get over to the egg, but the Tentacruel hit me too, causing me to black out.

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 ***Alex's POV.***

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I saw that Zephyr was hit by the attack, and three of us burst into action.

"Grace, catch Spark with Psychic!"

"Sukima, fly up and stop Zephyr!"

"Tele, grab the egg!"

' _ **On it!'**_ The Pokemon chorused. Grace glowed a vibrant pink, which surrounded Spark and slowed her descent. Sukima lept into the air, and flew with significant speed towards the knocked out bird. Tele looked a little unsure as he was surrounded in a blueish aura, using Confusion.

' _Don't worry. I'll help out with grabbing it.'_ I told him.

' _Thanks. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get it.'_ He replied. My eyes glowed a very small pink colour as I activated my own Psychic, and joined in Tele's attempt to catch the egg and stop its descent. Sukima dropped down next to us with Zephyr, and went over to leave him next to Leo.

"Thank you Sukima." He said to her, returning Zephyr to his Pokeball and reattaching it to his belt.

' _ **No problem.'**_ She said, walking over to Grace, who was still floating Spark down from to air. ' _ **Keep her still, I'll grab her.'**_ Grace didn't have the time to reply before Sukima jumped back into the air. I focused on the egg, which was glowing a faint blue, and caught it as well. I carefully pulled it back towards us, and could tell that Tele was too. Sukima landed next to us again, and put Spark down next to me. She didn't talk to me before she took off again, heading towards the robot again to try and destroy it. As the egg got closer, I stopped using my own Psychic, relying on Tele to hold it, and reached out to grab it. I felt the Confusion weaken, and quickly took it from the air.

' _Ok Tele, I've got it now.'_ The very vague blue outline vanished completely, and the full weight of the egg was dropped onto me. I immediately handed it over to the twin Lugia. "Go, take the egg back to the house. We can handle this from here." They nodded, and Lillian took the egg from me and held it carefully. "Tele, Jade!" I called over my shoulder. The two Pokemon floated over to me. "Go with them and help keep the egg safe."

' _ **Ok.'**_ Jade said, fluttering over to Lillian and landing on her head. Tele floated over, still a little tired from catching the egg, even though I had helped.

"Thanks guys." I said to them. "Now go!" They nodded, and sprinted towards the house, with the small Pokemon behind them. I turned away from the four, bringing my attention back to the huge battle in front of us.

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 **Chapter 46.**

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 ***Lillian's POV.***

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I ran with the egg, Lucas on my left and Tele floating on my right. Jade was sitting on my head, looking around for any attacks. Luckily for us, none of the Pokemon had attacked us yet, leaving us free to keep running.

' _Why do you think they were after the egg?'_ I asked my brother telepathically, as I had no breath from running.

' _Your guess is as good as mine.'_ He replied. ' _Though didn't the three from Team Rocket say they were Elites? Maybe they were ordered to get the egg?'_

' _If so, how did they know about the egg?'_ I retorted. ' _None of our friends would have said anything, after all.'_

' _Remember, Umiko said about an egg that looked like ours. Maybe that Team Rocket Agent that captured her was the one that brought this egg over.'_

' _You think it's the same one?'_

' _Could be. It's impossible to know for sure.'_ He said, looking at me. ' _You still good to keep running?'_

' _I'll be ok. We just need to get there.'_ He nodded. I felt the small weight move off my head, and a gust of wind flew to our right. I looked over and saw two Tentacool be blown into the water.

' _ **Good save Jade. I missed that one.'**_ Tele said as the Butterfree settled back onto my head.

"You're really powerful Jade." I praised her. "It's clear Alex did a good job training you."

' _ **Thank you.'**_ She said. Her tone changed quickly. ' _ **Tele, watch out!'**_ The Abra teleported forwards, causing a Poison Sting to barely miss him. Jade flew from my head again as another four Tentacool climbed up. ' _ **You guys keep going, I'll get rid of these.'**_ Tele floated back, and used Confusion to knock them away.

' _ **No. You keep going. I can hold these off for a bit.'**_ He said stubbornly. ' _ **You're more powerful than me, so you'll be better to keep with these two and look after the egg.'**_ Jade stared at him, then shook her head.

' _ **Fine, I'll go. You'll keep being stubborn if I don't leave, so I'll go.'**_ She fluttered over to me, taking Tele's spot to my right, before looking back. ' _ **Good luck my friend.'**_ He nodded, and started fighting off the Tentacool with Confusion. I smiled slightly at his determination to fight. Alex was really good with training her Pokemon. Though, I assume she had assistance from the rest of the group. Maybe not Ash, considering that he still wasn't aware of the existence of hybrids, but I'm sure that the others would be helping at every moment they could. I shook my head and started running again, hoping to outrun them and get back to the house.

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It was only a few minutes before Tele joined us, having knocked out the Tentacool that had attacked us.

"Are you still ok?"

' _ **Yeah, I'm fine. They were a bit of an annoyance to take out, but it's nothing I couldn't handle.'**_ He said. I glanced at his aura, careful not to slip while running. It was flickering slightly, showing that he was getting tired.

"Don't stress yourself too much." I said. "We'll need your help to get back."

' _ **I'll be fine, don't worry about me.'**_ He said. He glowed blue again as he used Confusion, and Jade went a fairly bright pink colour. Something exploded behind us, and I turned, seeing that Poison Stings were heading through the smoke cloud. Lucas reacted quickly, using Psychic to create a thick shield in front of us all. The poison attacks bounced off, not even scratching the shield. Jade flew off my head, and used Silver Wind to blow away the smoke from the attacks, as well as damaging whatever Pokemon were there. As the smoke cleared, a few Tentacool were sent flying back from the attack, but two Tentacruel were left standing. They launched themselves at us, one heading towards the two Pokemon while the other headed for me. I turned around, holding the egg near me so it wasn't damaged, and saw a thick blue cloud surround me. A thud showed that the Tentacruel had bounced off, and the cloud disappeared.

"You ok sis?" Lucas asked, the bright blue in his eyes dieing down.

"Yeah." I said, shifting my hold on the egg. "What about those two?" I looked at the two Pokemon, who were now fighting both of the Tentacruel. Tele was using Confusion to block the attacks from hitting him and Jade while she did most of the fighting. I smiled, seeing that they worked well in a team together. But that sight of the two was off cut pretty badly. While Tele was focused on blocking an attack from one, Jade was hit by a Poison Sting by the other. Tele growled slightly.

' _ **Don't hit a lady while her guard is down!'**_ He shouted, moving the focus of his Confusion onto the Tentacruel. ' _ **Take this!'**_ He smashed them together repeatedly, and as Jade started getting up, he glowed a bright white. The blue aura holding the Pokemon got stronger, and by the time the white light faded, a Kadabra had taken his place. He threw the Poison types away, and they hit a building. Tele released his hold on them and walked to us. ' _ **Are you ok Jade?'**_

' _ **Yeah.'**_ She said, fluttering up and into my arms and sitting on top of the egg. Unfortunately, we all had our guards down, and while Lucas was looking at Jade, a Tentacruel launched itself at us. It let out a cry, but by the time we turned it was too late to put up a Psychic shield to stop it. I closed my eyes, instinctively curling around the egg to try and keep it safe.

"Serperior, Leaf Tornado, quickly!" My eyes shot open as a familiar voice gave a command, and a small grass attack hit the Tentacruel into a building and knocked it out in one. Rosa ran over to us as the Serperior settled into a defensive position around us. "Are you four ok?"

"Yeah." Lucas said, recovering from the surprise the quickest. "We're all fine."

"Good." Rosa looked critically at the two Pokemon. "I didn't know that you had a Butterfree and Kadabra on your active team."

"We don't." He replied. "These two are from Alex. She had them come and be extra defense so we could bring back the egg."

"I didn't know you still had a team Rosa." I said, looking fleetingly at Serperior.

"I still have my entire Unova team. I just don't really use them any more. I stopped battling when I came over here. I didn't like the publicity."

' _ **Unfortunately.'**_ Serperior said. ' _ **We all liked battling.'**_ Lucas translated what he had said, and Rosa smiled.

"I'm sorry. But I'd rather not be followed by cameras constantly. I know the rest of you feel the same."

"Yeah." I replied. "If the world knew about the half and halfers, I don't think anyone who could understand Pokemon would ever be left alone. Whether they were hybrids or not." Half and halfers was another term for hybrids, mostly used before that first war. It was changed to hybrids after, though I couldn't say why. My thoughts drifted to Alex and Bella down near the beach. They lived quite close to the Grand Library back home, and had read through most of it together. I made a mental note to ask them.

"Right. Serperior, can you head down to the beach and collect them. Those two won't be fighting for much longer." Rosa instructed. The grass snake slipped away.

"How can you tell?" Lucas asked.

"Because you'll be able to beat them both. Head up and use an Aeroblast to get rid of them." Lucas looked worriedly at me, then nodded, heading towards the beach to transform and attack. "Lil, come on. We should get the egg back to the house." I nodded, a little worried about my brother revealing himself. Rosa went to her belt, taking another Pokeball. "Stoutland, I'll need your help." She said. Jade fluttered to my head, and Tele took to the opposite side of me, leaving Stoutland and Rosa on one side. "Come on, it's time to go." We took off to the house.

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 ***Alex's POV.***

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I looked over the Tentacruel, checking its condition. I glanced at the robot too, and saw it had taken much more damage than the giant Pokemon. Either way, both would be down soon, so I focused my effort on the Tentacruel, slowly making my way over to Leo.

"Leo, I have a very dumb idea. Wanna try it?" I asked quietly once I got to his side.

"Probably not. What is it?"

"Get to a roof and throw a Judgement at them. Psychic for the Tentacruel, and maybe fire for the robot."

"What a horrible plan. I'm in." He grinned. I smirked back, and teleported us both to a roof near the fighting giants. "Ready?"

"I'll get the robot." I said, reaching for the plates on my chain. I touched the fire on, focusing as I formed a glowing red orb in the palm of my hand. I slid a glance at my twin, who had a bright pink orb floating there. Once it was big enough, I threw it, guiding it with Psychic to its target.

"And boom." The two of us said. Leo took the teleport this time, putting us back where we had disappeared from. The orbs lit up, then exploded into more tiny orbs, which flew right into the fight and exploded again. An orange beam then sparked between them, firing upwards before splitting off and hitting them again. The Tentacruel was knocked out, and glowed a mild pink before vanishing, but the Dragonite exploded, sending two people flying out.

"Lots of explosions today, huh?" Crystal chuckled, standing next to me. "You should probably have said before you chucked a mini bomb of Arceus at them, but it worked so oh well."

"We should head to the house." Bella said, appearing next to Crystal. "Just to keep an eye on the egg."

"Sure." Ash said, surprisingly mature for once. Though, compared to Amy, he's great. Bella lead the way, with Amy and Crystal next to her. Ash stayed next to me, and Leo walked to his other side. I saw a small blue glow cover his eyes, almost transparent.

' _I'm sure you don't need to keep a scan.'_ George laughed in our heads. ' _I'm just above you, so I'll mention any danger.'_

' _Sure thing.'_ I replied.

' _I'll meet you all back at the house.'_ Lucas said, flying over us. ' _By the way, thanks for the help.'_

' _No problem. How's the egg?'_

' _Seemed fine when I left. Lil thinks it'll hatch soon, so we should hurry a little.'_ The five of us that could hear him let a small grin spread, and we picked up the pace slightly, ready to get back to the house on the hill.

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 **AN: Things were done today!**

 **P: And the egg is going to hatch soon, right?**

 **SV: I'll do it next chapter, along with a very special challenge.**

 **T: Ooooo! What is it?**

 **P: I want to know too, but I guess we'll have to wait until next time.**

 **SV: That's right Pix. Anyway, I'll get everyone moving on soon, we've spent too much time in this city already. Oh, and the Tentacool and Tentacruel got rid of Nastina and Brutella. See everyone later!**


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Welcome back everybody!**

 **T: This chapter's going to be a little longer than normal, as we have lots to do in it.**

 **P: Shadow wants next chapter to be in Celadon, and have a backstory after that.**

 **SV: Surprisingly, we're already reaching the end of what I have planned for this story. I wanted to end it after Saffron City gym, that one being the fifth, so it's almost done.**

 **T: Though we have quite a few special events to go through first, right?**

 **P: Of course. Now let's get going.**

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 **Chapter 47.**

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Lillian was waiting at the door for us when we arrived back at the house.

"Hey Lil." I said as I walked past. "How'd things go getting back?"

"Fine." She replied, closing the door and walking next to me. "Thanks for sending your two Pokemon to help. They were great."

"Were they ok?"

"Of course. Tele flipped his lid, though, when one of the Tentacruel hit Jade with she wasn't looking. That was one scary Kadabra."

"Yeah. Psychic types are scary as anything if you really annoy them." I said, laughing slightly. "And we have first hand experience."

"True. But nothing is more terrifying than an Ice and Psychic type going crazy." Lillian shuddered. "Remember that time last year?"

"I try not to." I told her. "Anyway, how's the egg?"

"I took it back to the water room for it to hatch." Lillian said. "Serperior is keeping an eye on it."

"A Serperior?" I was surprised. A Unova starters final evolution?

"Yeah, he belongs to Rosa." She opened the door to the water room, where the others were all standing. Ky and Spark were talking to Pikachu over near the water tunnel that lead to the ocean, and Mizu emerged from the tunnel to join in their conversation. I grinned at them, knowing that they were getting to be good friends. It's a shame we need to get leaving very soon, either tomorrow or the day after. Lucas was standing next to the egg, and Lillian quickly crossed over to him. The egg was glowing brightly, and a quick glance at the psychic aura it was producing showed just how close it was to hatching. Lillian picked it up, and Ash moved closer to try and watch, but Bella pulled him back.

"Don't. The first thing it sees needs to be Lillian, so it imprints on her as it's mother." Lucas moved behind his sister, and the rest of us took a few steps back, so we were close to the moat looping around the room. Ky slipped up my leg and around my shoulders, while Spark used Quick Attack to climb to my left shoulder, next to Ky's head. Pikachu bounced up next to us, sitting on Ash's right so he could keep talking to the others, and Mizu went to Lucas, who picked her up. The white glow brightened even more, and the shape in Lillian's hands shifted. From where I was, I couldn't really see much of the change, but I knew that we'd see it soon enough. Over the Lugia's shoulder I caught a glimpse of two bubbles, attached to antenna, float up before they disappeared.

 ** _'Mee...ma?'_** A small voice said, and I could tell that the little one had seen Lillian.

"That's right little one, I'm your Meema. I'm Lillian." She said, patting the Pokemon.

 ** _'Meema Lill… Lillian?'_** The young Pokemon stumbled over the name, and I could tell it was female. Lucas broke out of whatever little shock he had been in, and started chuckling.

"Only we would get this sort of luck." He then leaned over to see the Pokemon, with Mizu still in his arms. "Hello young one, I'm Lucas. I'll be your other Meema."

 ** _'And I'm your Aunt!'_** The Water and Fairy Pokemon introduced herself. _ **'My name's Mizu!'**_ I moved forwards a little, and both the Pokemon I had looked over too.

 ** _'Who's that?'_ ** The Pokemon said, having caught sight of the three of us.

"Hello. My name's Alex, and these two are Spark and Kydyur, my Pokemon." I told her, indicating each of the duo on my shoulder. Lillian turned around to let the rest of us see the small Pokemon. Behind me, Amy started giggling quietly, and Crystal sighed.

"Only you two." She said, stepping next to me. "Only you two." The little baby Manaphy giggled at Crystal.

 ** _'Who are they?'_**

"I'm Crystal, Alex's cousin." The Articuno started to give introductions. "This is Amy," The Mew nodded and gave a little wave. "Next to her is Bella, her twin sister." A smile from her. "Then there's Leo, Alex's twin." He walked over and patted her on the head, smiling. "And finally there's Ash. He isn't part of our family, but he may as well be." Ash grinned at the small Pokemon, then pulled out his Pokedex, pointing at the Manaphy in Lillian's arms.

'Insufficient data. Pokemon unknown.'

"Again?" I rolled my eyes and was about to answer, when Lucas cut in.

"This is Manaphy. She's a Pokemon from Sinnoh and Hoenn. It can apparently bond with any kind of Pokemon."

"Wow." Ash said, looking at the baby with surprise. "You know a lot about this little one."

"Yeah. Manaphy's always been a special Pokemon too us, even if it's also a fairly sad memory." Lillian said, looking at the baby in her arms. Manaphy turned to hug her.

"How come?" Ash seemed quite curious, but Crystal gave him a whack on the side of his head.

"They just said it's a bad memory, stop being so dense!"

"Though, it is quite funny that this was the Pokemon that hatched." Amy said.

 _ **'Ok, am I missing something? Why's Manaphy so significant? Is it another hybrid thing?'**_

 _ **'I don't know either.'**_ Spark replied. _ **'Alex can tell us later.'**_

 _ **'Say, can you use any attacks?'**_ Ky questioned the kid.

 _ **'What do you mean?'**_

 _ **'You see, Pokemon often battle each other using moves. Your Meema can tell you more later, but these moves deal damage to the other Pokemon until one of them can't battle anymore.'**_ The Dratini explained. _ **'In fact… Alex, could I do a mock battle with Sukima or someone?'**_

"I'm game for that."

"And so is Sukima!" Amy added. "Lil, is there a battlefield we can use?"

"Yeah, I think so." Lucas walked to the door. "Come on, I think it's over here." We walked the hallways, and Spark jumped over to Lillian's shoulder to keep talking. Rosa came over to Ash.

"Hey, Ash, the Professor wants to talk to you." Ash glanced at me, confused, and I shook my head. The two of us went over to Rosa, and Ash picked up the call.

"Hey Professor Oak, what's wrong?"

"It's that Zangoose of yours." The Professor looked at us. "When and where did you get it from?"

"On the S.S. Anne. There was a stand that was giving away eggs. It's the same place Alex got her Ditto."

"I was surprised to see that. Ditto don't hatch from eggs." I said. "In fact, can I send back Jade for her please?" I grabbed my Pokedex and placed Jade's Pokeball on the teleporter pad.

"Hold on, Ditto's just here." Oak left the screen for a moment, then came back with a Pokeball. I sent over Jade, and my little Ditto came through. "Anyway, that wasn't what I wanted. Ash, have you talked to your Zangoose at all?"

"Errr, no. I hadn't really had time, with everything that was going on, and then I sent him to you."

"Well, there seems to be something odd with it. It definitely doesn't seem to like humans. I've had to keep it in a Pokeball since you sent it, otherwise it keeps trying to attack." My eyes widened slightly, and the others gasped through our telepathic link. I had been transmitting the whole conversation to them. I grinned slightly as a plan formed.

"Right, send it over here. I have an idea for how to deal with it." I said, sending over the details of the plan to the rest of my family. Ash quickly brought out a Pokeball and swapped it for his Beedrill. "When did you get Beedrill?"

"Sting evolved a while back." Ash shrugged. "I'm surprised you didn't notice during the giant battle earlier."

"Well Alex, good luck with whatever you plan to do. Be careful, though."

"We will. Thanks Professor." Ash turned off the call.

"What do you have planned?" He asked, as we walked over to the others near the field. The battlefield was on the side of the hill, caved into the side of the mountain, creating a huge flat plain that could also be used to look over the city.

"First, try talking to it. If that doesn't work, then Ky and the Pikachu can knock it out, I'm borrowing Grace and going mindscape diving after that."

"Mindscape diving?"

"It's a little like the Mew Game we used with Damian, but this is going into the person or Pokemon's subconscious, not twisting reality. It lets me and the other participants look at his mind, without the threat of mind reading." Ash looked about to ask another question or ten, so I stopped him. "Ask Bella or something afterwards if this doesn't work."

"Right, fine, I'll do that." Ash handed over the Pokeball. "What Grace doing out?"

 _'I'm on healing and shielding duty. You know, in case things go really bad.'_ She answered.

"Right. Zangoose, come on out." I said, throwing the Pokeball. All four of the Pokemon currently out got ready to fight, and the Zangoose looked around for a moment before lunging at Ash. As he did so, I saw a strange flicker of blue power encase Ash for a second, then disperse, as though it was blocking Zangoose.

 _'Wait. I want to check something.'_ I telepathed to the ready Pokemon. As I predicted, Ash grabbed the Zangoose's arms, stopping the attack from killing him. As he did so, it caught him along his left wrist, leaving a deep cut. Pikachu reacted instantly, using Thunderbolt to blast him away. I ran over, putting my hand over the cut and blasting a Heal Pulse into it, healing the cut almost immediately. _'Nevermind, theory busted.'_

"You ok?" I said, helping him up.

"Yeah." He replied, looking at the place where the cut had been. "Thanks Grace!" She nodded, and Manaphy giggled.

 ** _'But that didn't look like Grace!'_**

 ** _'It wasn't me.'_** She replied. **_'Alex used her own psychic powers to heal him.'_**

 ** _'Wow!'_** Manaphy said, her eyes shining. ** _'Can the others do it too?'_**

 ** _'Yes. Everyone except Ash can. Ask Lillian to explain it later.'_** I moved my attention to the Zangoose, who was glaring, but also seemed quite fearful.

"What was that for?" I asked calmly. He simply glared at me, so I met his stare, and lightly touched the fighting type 'plate' on my necklace, sending a small wash of power and a flicker of red light. Ash didn't seem to notice, luckily, but the Zangoose certainly did, and flinched. "Since you don't seem to want to answer me, I'll ask again. What was that for?" I scowled, and he flinched again.

 ** _'What kind of human are you?'_**

"I'm not." I said, grinning softly. "Now, please answer the question." He was slightly stunned by my response, but seeing that I didn't care to continue, he shook his head.

 _ **'Humans are horrible creatures. If this one will force me to work for him, then I will get rid of him.'**_ He stopped there, choosing to throw himself at us again. I was going to react with a shield, knowing that Ash would assume it was Grace again, but Pikachu appeared in front of me almost a second later, his tail glowing with Iron Tail and crackling with a Thunderbolt. It crashed against Zangoose's X-Scissor attack, and the resulting explosion knocked them both back. I had a shield up as soon as I could, leaving the smallest hole to let Pikachu in before sealing it completely.

"Are you ok?"

 _ **'I'm fine. That took a lot out of me though.'**_

"Where did you pick that up?"

 _ **'Earlier. I saw the Judgement attacks you did, and chose to try something. That was the first time I've used it at all, though.'** _ I nodded, and was about to turn to Ash and hand Pikachu over, when he patted on my arm. **_'Don't do that. Your eyes are still glowing sustaining the shield.'_** He climbed over my shoulder and jumped onto Ash's. I pulsed some power outside of the bubble, and dropped the shield once the smoke started to clear. Zangoose was glaring at us, but had a few obvious injuries and was covered in static. A weight dropped onto my shoulders, and a quick glance showed that Ky had draped herself over her regular position, and Spark crackled with lightning.

 _ **'What the…? How didn't you get blown away?'**_

"Practise. And a shield." I responded. I built a small Aura Sphere in the palm of my hand, ready to throw it. "Now, do you want to do this the easy way and tell us what's wrong, or do I need to do a mindscape dive to find out?" He growled, and lunged again, but I fired the shot, knocking him back.

 _'Alex, this isn't working.'_ Crystal said.

 _'I had noticed that, thank you.'_ I replied tartly, as the Pokemon got ready to fight. _'Any ideas?'_

 _'I think we need to knock it out.'_ Leo said. _'By the way, be careful with your attacks.'_ A fluttering of wings caught my attention, but I kept myself focused on the Zangoose. _'Especially now. Blue just arrived, with Gary.'_

 _'Damn, really? Oh well.'_ I refocused my telepathy. _'Team, we need to aim for a knockout. I'll try talking once more, but then on my mark, you hit. Try not to cause lasting damage.'_

"Zangoose, I'll ask you once more. Are you going to tell me what you have against humans, or will you continue to fight this losing battle?"

 ** _'I don't know whether you are a human or not, but I still refuse to tell you! Human's cannot force me to do anything!'_** He started sprinting forward once more, I shook my head.

"I will admit, you don't give up easily. But that ends now." _'Go guys!'_ One Thunderbolt and a Dragon Pulse later, and Zangoose was struggling to stand. "Ash, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not." He returned the violent Pokemon, and handed me the ball.

"Thanks. Hey Grace, I'll need your help later, so be ready."

 _'Of course.'_

 ** _'Alex, can I still battle against Sukima? I want to show Manaphy a proper battle. Without a slightly murderous Pokemon.'_**

"Sure." Amy walked over, Sukima's Pokeball in her hand.

 _'By the way Alex, are you just going to ignore your friends? Gary's jaw's been on the floor since he got here.'_

 _'I was planning to, but now you mention it…'_ I turned to Gary and Blue, pretending I hadn't been told of their arrival by telepathy. "Oh! Blue, Gary, when did you get here?"

"We saw the cloud of smoke and flew up." Blue said, with some awe. "What happened?"

"Zangoose tried to attack Ash. Pikachu didn't take to kindly to that."

"Yeah, what was that anyway?" Ash looked at the electric type on his shoulder.

 ** _'Volt Tail. I came up with the idea a while ago.'_** He replied.

"He said he called it Volt Tail." I translated. "It was really powerful. Mind teaching Spark?"

 ** _'We should probably do it later when Sukima's available. After all, she at least is immune to electricity.'_**

"Good point. Come on Ky, let's get that battle done." As I walked to the field, I heard Gary muttering under his breath.

"Doesn't matter how 'powerful' that attack was. They're still weak. I'll beat them before they can get off an attack." I growled slightly.

 _'Arrogant much?'_ I said, rolling my eyes.

 _'I really hope he gets destroyed in the league.'_ Crystal growled. _'You can't insult my family and friends and continue.'_

 _'Agreed.'_ Amy said. _'Now, let's battle.'_

"Right." I replied aloud. "Ky, let's go. Battlefield!"

"Sukima, let's roll!" Bella stepped up.

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 **Chapter 48.**

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"This is a one on one mock battle between Amy and Alex. The battle is over when one of the Pokemon cannot continue. Begin!"

"Ky, start this quick, Flamethrower!"

"Block with Sandstorm, then get in close to use Dragon Claw!"

"Extreme Speed!" Ky flickered out of visibility, and reappeared on the other side of the sandstorm, crashing into the back of Sukima and forcing her into the cloud. "Dragon Pulse!" The blue light flashed, and collided with the Garchomp's back, knocking her towards me. "Extreme Speed again, followed with Flamethrower!"

"Turn and intercept it with Dragon Claw!" Our Pokemon locked in a stalemate for a moment, before Sukima launched Ky back. "Dragon Breath!"

"Flamethrower!" Again, they were locked in a battle for a few moments, but Sukima started to push back the Flamethrower. Which made sense, as she was stronger, and the fire wasn't very effective against the Dragon attack. "Now, Flare Pulse!"

"What?" Amy gasped, confused. Ky knew exactly what I meant, and fired a Dragon Pulse into the Flamethrower. The extra power knocked back the attack from Sukima, and I chuckled.

"Remember Amy, I had a year to practise these things after Crystal left. This one took a while to think up, and even longer to get working, but we managed it."

"Right." Amy winced. "We may need to step this up. Sukima, stop the attack and take to the air!"

 ** _'Right!'_ ** She said, bouncing up and letting the combo attack fly under her.

"Ok, this could be troublesome. Ky, try getting above her and forcing her down."

 _ **'I can try.'**_ She disappeared again, this time smashing into her stomach, stunning her.

"I said down, not up!"

 ** _'I know!'_** She called, evaporating into the air again. This time, she smashed into her from behind, sending Sukima crashing into the ground. Ky slid over to me, and the Garchomp stood slowly.

"Right Sukima, let's try and finish this quickly! Dragon Rush!"

"Ok Ky, let's give a show! Freeze Crash!" The two powerful attacks collided, sending out a cloud of dust and ice shards. I put up a thin shield, thickening it once the dust surrounded us. When the ice shards stopped, I used Psychic to clear the cloud, lowering my shield.

"Who won?" Lillian asked. The cloud finally disappeared, letting us see the results. Ky was barely standing, panting heavily, and Sukima was crouched over, clearly exhausted. Slowly, she pulled herself to a standing position, then bowed to the much smaller dragon type.

 ** _'This battle is over. It is quite clear you can't defeat me in your current state, but you have put plenty of effort into this attempt.'_** She looked at Bella with a fixed stare. **_'I believe we should call this a draw?'_**

"Indeed." She nodded. "This battle between Alex and Amy is a draw." I ran over to my little dragon and picked her up.

"Good job. You certainly did well."

"She did." Amy said, with Sukima behind her. "If she were to evolve to her final form, she would be a truly deadly foe. Though, she did say she wouldn't evolve."

 ** _'If Alex wanted me to, I would to help her.'_ ** Ky said, nudging my face.

"I wouldn't ever ask you to evolve if you didn't want to." I replied, walking over to the others.

 ** _'What did you think?'_** She asked Manaphy.

 ** _'That was awesome!'_** She said excitedly. ** _'Can I learn how to do that last attack?'_**

 ** _'I don't think so. See, I'm better at different moves than you are. Ice Beam might be available, as you're a Water type, but Dragon Rush won't.'_**

 ** _'Awwwww. I wanted to do that.'_**

 ** _'Maybe you could combo Ice Beam with a Water move like Bubblebeam or Hydro Pump. Ask your Meema's for some lessons, and your Aunty Mizu can help with Water attacks.'_**

"Hey bro, I'm gonna take Pidgeot back down." Gary said. "I don't want to stay around these losers much longer." With that, he took a Pokeball from his brother and released the Pokemon, flying down the cliff to the edge of the city. Blue shook his head.

"Sorry about that. Gary's still a bit of an idiot. I'd hoped that me travelling with him would stop that, but no luck so far."

"Don't worry too much about it." Bella said. "He'll get better with time."

"Yeah." Crystal agreed. "After all, you did."

"Did you have to bring that up?" He winced. "Hey, maybe we can get one of these three to beat him in battle a few dozen times. That might work."

"And fairly easy." I added.

"Well, maybe." He replied, glancing at the two dragon types who had been battling a few minutes before. "I don't think he'll make it very far in the league."

"We can make sure of that if you want." I said, flashing glances at the others that were going to be in the league.

"Try not to slaughter him too badly, mind." Blue said, turning away as his Pidgeot landed next to him. "I'll see you guys around." He hopped onto the bird, who flew down next to Gary.

"Well. That was interesting." Lucas said. "How do you plan to deal with Zangoose?"

"Mindscape diving." I replied. "That's why I'm borrowing Grace."

"Well, that was most impressive." A voice said. We all jumped, and turned to the speaker.

"Oh! Rosa!" Lillian said.

"How long have you been here?" Bella asked.

"I saw the end part of your battle." Rosa told us. "That was a very impressive move that she used. How did she do it?"

"Using Dragon Rush to fire towards the opponent, then freezing the energy with Ice Beam to make it more powerful. It's really useful for dealing with Dragons, once weak to Dragon, once or twice weak to Ice. And it damages Fairy types."

 ** _'I agree.'_** Sukima said, rubbing her arm. ** _'You need to teach me that.'_**

 ** _'With pleasure. But don't forget, we need to beat you up for a while later to teach Spark Volt Tail.'_** Sukima sighed, but nodded.

"Alex, if you don't mind, I have a request." I looked at Rosa, confused. "One of my Pokemon has been wanting a strong battle for a while. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to fight her. As many Pokemon as you would like. She really needs a challenge."

"Sure. But why me?"

"I think you'd do well." She turned, heading to go back to the house.

"Well, that was interesting." Amy said.

"Who will you use?" Ash asked me.

"I think…" I looked at the two starter Pokemon I had. "I want to use these two, but Ky might be too tired to battle."

'I'll be fine. Grace, can you use Heal Pulse on me? I want to fight.' She nodded, and started using Heal Pulse.

"Ok, you two, and…" My hand went to my belt, releasing a Pokemon. My little Ditto looked around.

"Your Ditto?" Lillian asked.

"I don't plan on using her." I said, then crouched next to her.

 _ **'What do you mean?'**_

"A friend of ours challenged me to a battle with on of her really powerful Pokemon."

 ** _'That sounds fun!'_**

"I don't want to use you though, as you're a bit young. I want you to watch, ok?"

 _ **'Alright.'**_ He said. Bella picked her up and held her.

"Who will you use then?"

"I think Joey. He should work with these two as fast Pokemon." I sent out the little Rattata. "Is that ok?"

 _ **'Are you sure? I'm not very powerful.'**_

"We have Spark and Ky for power. I want you to be able to cause damage fast, and keep the attention off the others so they can use powerful attacks to knock it out."

 _ **'I'll do my best.'**_ He said, determined.

 _ **'Your Pokemon have names?'**_ Ditto asked.

"Yeah. I don't have one for you at the moment. I'll think of one." I told her, letting Joey climb my arm. I took a steadying breath. "Let's go."

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 **Chapter 49.**

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I stood on the other side of the field to Rosa, my team already out. She blinked.

"Ok, I was expecting the Pikachu, wasn't sure about the Dratini since the last battle, but I was not expecting a Rattata."

"Don't underestimate him. Or any of them." I said.

"Of course not. I have experience in that. Right, let's get started." She threw a Pokeball. "Zoroark, let's go!" The Illusion Pokemon burst out, and looked at my team of three.

 ** _'Is this it? A snake, and lightning rat and a normal rat? This is my challenge?'_**

"Don't get cocky Zoro." She warned. Ky took a moment to faze out of existence, and rammed into her back, knocking her over. "That's why."

"I'll call if I see anything. Otherwise, act as you see fit." I said.

'Ok.' They said. An Ice Beam and Thunderbolt slammed into Zoroark, and she flinched. Joey flashed across the gap, and bit down with Super Fang. The Dark type shouted in pain.

 ** _'Right. This is good. Dark Pulse!'_** The special attack rippled across the field. An Iron Tail from Spark and Joey blocked it, and Ky just disappeared again.

 ** _'Flash Freeze!'_ ** She cried, and a Thunderbolt/Ice Beam combo knocked the Pokemon forward… into the two Iron Tail's from the others.

"Neat trick." Rosa complemented.

"Yeah. We would have used it earlier, but the electric part wouldn't work against Sukima, so Freeze Crash was the better option." I replied. I looked back to see Joey had a slightly purple aura, and purple bubbles spit out, colliding with Zoroark. She leaned over, and took on a purple tint. "Was that Toxic Joey?"

 ** _'I think so?'_** He said.

"Well, this just got more interesting. Watch out Zoro!" She dashed to the left, avoiding a Thunderbolt, and took minimal damage from Toxic.

"Looks like you were right Alex." Ash said, watching the battle intensely. "These three work well together."

"I had hoped so." An electrified Flamethrower slammed into her side, knocking her over and leaving her vulnerable to another Quick Attack/Super Fang combo from Joey. She grinned.

 ** _'Take this!'_** She said, slapping him with a Payback.

 ** _'Ouch!'_** He yelped, landing next to Spark. She glanced over at him.

 ** _'You ok?'_**

 ** _'I'll live. Go!'_** He yelled. Zoroark doubled over as the effects of Toxic kicked in again, worse than last time, and Spark dashed with a mock Volt Tackle. At the same time, Ky dashed in with an Extreme Speed and Dragon Pulsed her in the back as she hit, resulting in the Dark type getting sandwiched.

"Well, I was right in saying that you'd be a good partner. Zoro, time to bring out the big guns! Night Daze!"

 ** _'Finally!'_** She slammed the ground, sending dark ripples around the area. All three of my Pokemon were hit, and it rendered Joey at minimal health. He looked up, a glint in his eyes I had never seen.

 ** _'When will Toxic activate next?'_**

"A few moments. Why?" He dashed forwards, and clipped the side of her waist. Her state suddenly deteriorated.

 ** _'Endeavour.'_** He grinned. Zoro blinked.

 ** _'I must admit, I did not see that coming. Well done little ones, you win this one.'_** With that, she passed out, Toxic taking effect once more.

 ** _'We won?'_** Joey said, surprised.

 ** _'We won.'_** Spark said. ** _'Thanks to you.'_** Joey smiled, and started glowing white. His shape started to change, and a few seconds later a Raticate stood there.

"Good job buddy. You did brilliantly." I said, patting him on the head.

"I agree." Rosa said, returning Zoroark. "Congratulations. The three of you had great co-ordination." I looked over to the spectators. Specifically, my Ditto.

 ** _'Wow. Are battles always like that?'_**

 ** _'I asked that earlier.'_** Manaphy giggled. **_'Miss Kydyur said they aren't always, but they can be quite fast.'_**

"And the difference from earlier is that Ditto could use all of those combos. Because she can transform into any Pokemon, she can use any move that the Pokemon she's transformed into and combo them."

"I have an idea." Leo said. "We could get Di to teach Ditto to make a human form and talk. She can transform to any Pokemon she knows enough about."

 ** _'Is Diana the Ditto hybrid we met before?'_ ** Pikachu asked.

"Yes, she is." I confirmed. "We should see her soon."

 _'Anyway, shall we start to deal with the Zangoose?'_ Grace asked.

"Good idea." I turned to Rosa. "Do you have a room we can use that you don't mind getting wrecked if this goes wrong?"

"Sure. Pass over your Pokemon and I can get them healed for you."

"It's nearly night." Ash said. "Should you really do this now?"

"I would rather get it done now, so we can leave tomorrow." I looked at Manaphy, and had a thought. "Hey, I have an idea."

"What?"

"You should catch Manaphy. That way she can't be caught by anyone else if you go anywhere with her." I dug into my bag for a while, and pulled out a Pokeball. "Here." I passed it to Lil, who tapped Manaphy on the head. It rocked in her hand for a moment, before clicking. She dropped it back onto the floor, releasing the little water type.

 ** _'That felt weird.'_** She said, shaking her head.

"Ok. Joey, come on back now." I returned him to his Pokeball. "I just thought of a nickname of you." I said, looking at Ditto.

 ** _'Really? What?'_**

"Mimik. Because you copy Pokemon, you know?"

 ** _'I like it.'_** The newly named Mimik said.

"And I think I should name you Aqua." Lillian said, looking down at Manaphy.

 _ **'That's nice. Thank you Meema!'**_ Aqua said, jumping into her arms.

"Ok. Mimik, return." I said, pointing the Pokeball at her. "Now Grace, lets go deal with whatever problem Zangoose has."

 _'Ok.'_ She agreed. I handed my team to Ash, and took the Pokeball he was offering me.

"Be careful."

"I'll be fine." I replied. Rosa lead us to a room, and opened the door.

"You can use this to help him." She said. "Good luck."

"Thank you." I said. The two of us walked in and closed the door. "Ready?"

 ** _'I'll help in any way I can.'_** I nodded, and released Zangoose. I straight away started releasing my ability, my eyes going a bright white colour. He looked fearful, and then shrieked slightly. I knew why. Around my waist was a golden arc, with four glowing green gems. Just like my Arceus form. A similar ring appeared around Grace, then finally Zangoose.

 _ **'What are you doing?!'**_ He stuttered. I couldn't reply, as I was busy starting the dive, but Grace answered for me.

 ** _'Mindscape diving. Her secret ability, that she shares with her brother and can let her sister use.'_ ** Grace smiled lightly. **_'This is how we will find what is wrong. Good luck.'_** The room flashed white and gold, and we fell to the floor, unconscious in the real world.

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I landed at the edge of a forest, Grace appearing next to me.

"Right. Let's go." I said. "We don't want to waste time dealing with this hatred."

"I agree." Grace said. She frowned. "I forgot we speak english here. It's been a while."

"For you, yes. I had to use it a few months before my journey." I set off, Grace following with a partly charged Moonblast ready to fire. We walked into the clearing before us, and I heard a noise that sounded like a truck.

"Ok, where the heck are we, anyway?" Grace asked. I glanced at a tree.

"Somewhere in Hoenn, I think."

"How can you… oh wait. You picked that up from Bella, didn't you."

"Yeah. I could tell from the kind of trees around."

"Well, that's cool. Where's the truck?" I closed my eyes, looking for a psychic aura. I found a group of them, some Normal types, and two plain human ones. Then I got a headache.

"Ow. That wasn't good. Found them though." I took of running over to the place, and saw two Zangoose and an egg being hauled into the truck. "Right. There's the trauma that made his hatred."

"How do we fix this?"

"Get them out. It won't change anything in the past, so it still happened, but it should get rid of the fear of humans."

"I'll grab it, you get in and let them out?"

"Good plan. Now, how did I do this…" I trailed off, creating a short and frail blade with Psychic. On top, I layered a type of fighting energy on it. It glowed, then changed. "Ahh, there we go. Sacred Sword."

"Ready?"

"Lift it up." I said, charging the back of the truck. It lifted a little into the air, and I smashed into the back doors. I sliced at the cages, releasing the parent Zangoose, and cracked the container the egg was in. I grabbed it, and hopped out, throwing the sword behind me to hit something. I put the egg far away from the truck. "Ok Grace, send it to the moon!" I called, charging a Judgement in my right hand.

"Alright then!" Grace came over to me, and I threw the orb, sticking it to the bottom for a second before exploding. Grace had used Psychic to send it up and released it, letting the whole truck explode in the sky. She looked at me. "I think our job is done."

"So do I. Let's get going." I reactivated my power, and the rings appeared before we flashed away.

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I pulled myself off the floor, shaking my head.

"That went well." I said.

 ** _'I would say so.'_** Grace agreed. **_'How's Zangoose?'_ ** I walked over to him.

"Are you ok now?" I asked quietly.

 ** _'I think so.'_ ** He said, embarrassed. **_'I'm sorry for being so bad earlier.'_**

"Don't worry too much. You had your reasons. Come on, let's go back to the group." I lead them out of the room, heading for where I could sense the others. I pushed open the door. "I'm back!"

"How did it go?" Ash asked.

"Fine. We sorted out the problem. I'll tell you in a moment." I passed back Zangoose's Pokeball, and the Pokemon that went with it stepped up.

 _ **'I'm sorry for attacking you earlier.'** _ I nodded to Grace, who translated telepathically.

"Don't worry about it Zane." He cocked his head. "I thought I'd give you a nickname, like the rest of my team. I hope you don't mind."

 _ **'It's ok. I don't mind.'**_ Ash nodded, and returned him.

"Hey Alex, we said we'd leave in the morning." Bella said.

"Ok then." I said, sitting down and getting ready to tell what happened.

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Later that night, Pikachu crawled over to me.

"What's up little one?"

 _ **'I'm a little worried.'**_

"What about?"

 ** _'Why did you stop us earlier? Ash got hurt because of it!'_**

"I saw something, I don't quite know what. I thought it would protect him. It looked like it was going to, whatever it was, but it isn't very powerful."

 ** _'So, does Ash have a special ability like you?'_**

"I don't think so. I checked him before I walked in. I can't see him at all. That might be a limitation of the Psychic Sight, though. If it is, then it isn't Psychic."

 ** _'Then what is it?'_**

"I don't know."

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** **AN: That's the end of the group's trip on this island.**

 **T: Nice. It's the next gym soon, right?**

 **P: Yup! And it's Grass!**

 **SV: This had a lot in it, so sorry if it seemed rushed. I might try and fix it if I need to. I hope everyone like the battles, and the combo's that I made up. I don't have much to say here, so I'll see you next time!**


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: Hello guys!**

 **T: I think today's a backstory, right?**

 **P: True. But before we do that, I have some questions for Shadow to answer about last chapter. She already knows what they are, so go on.**

 **SV: Right. The last AN was bad because it was really late when I wrote it, so yeah. First, there is a good reason for Mimik, the Ditto, to be displayed as a girl. I mentioned about bringing Diana to help Mimik with some things, and that will happen. Second, the Mindscape Diving. I'll have to talk about hybrid abilities soon, but that'll happen too. As I said, all it does is change the memory, so it worked with Zane because it changed what he remembered. Finally, Ash and hybrids. I haven't come to a complete conclusion on if he will find out, but he will find out before the end of Kanto. Maybe earlier, I don't know, but the reaction is great.**

 **T: She's already written Ash's reaction to the hybrids. I think it's brilliant.**

 **P: Anyhow, I think that's everything. This chapter is for Blitz, Ash's Charmander. I feel like this one's the most boring, in all honesty.**

 **T: Though, I read the start of Pikachu's. I think we need to get Kirito here to help.**

 **SV: Ok guys, I'm cutting you off right there. I don't own Pokemon, have fun with the backstory.**

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 **Special Chapter 3: Blitz's Broken Soul.**

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Hello, I'm Blitz. I'm a shiny Charmander that belongs to Ash. Although, as you well know, I wasn't always part of Ash's team, or Damian's. It was because of a really big misunderstanding that I ended up with him, though I'm somewhat glad I did. After all, if I hadn't, he might still be getting away with what he did, and I wouldn't be with Ash and the team. Let's start with my past, shall we?

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I was hatched in a mountain range. Where it is, I couldn't tell you. I never had the time to learn, with everything else that went on. When I hatched, both of my Meema's were there, as well as two other Pokemon, a Xatu and an Absol. My Meema's looked happy to see me at first, but then their faces quickly turned fearful. I found this odd; why would my Meemas be so scared if they were such big and powerful Pokemon? The Absol backed away a little, and the Xatu's eyes flashed as it used Future Sight. My Meema's looked back at them, and both shook their head. I didn't have time to think about what they meant, and went back to sleep.

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When I awoke again, I was near a lake in a forest. I was quite startled at this, and looked around for my Meema's. They weren't anywhere nearby, and I started to panic. I had been asleep the entire time, after all, so I didn't know where I had gone, so I wasn't able to head back home. I didn't know what to do, so I kept looking around, walking near to a few bushes to see if they were nearby. I wandered around for about an hour before sitting down, giving up on the search for a while.

"What's such a little Pokemon doing out here on their own?" I jumped at the voice behind me, and turned, startled. There wasn't anything there for a few seconds, then a Houndoom fazed out of the darkness.

"I'm lost." I stuttered. "I went to sleep then woke up here. I don't know how to get back."

"I wonder why." He gave me a look. "Can I ask where you hatched?"

"In a cave up in the mountains." I told him, confused. He fixed me with a stare, and blew a small tuft of flame.

"Ahh, I see why." He said. "If it's the mountains I think they are, then they see differently coloured Pokemon as a bad omen."

"Really?"

"Yep." He shook his head. "I've seen a couple others, from that same mountain. I don't think you guys are a problem, and the others are staying with me and my pack. Want to come along?"

"I… ok." I nodded. After all, they couldn't be too bad, if they look after more of us, right?

"Right. Follow me." Houndoom turned around, walking into the forest.

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A little while later, we walked into a clearing with a cave near the edge. Houndoom barked, and a few yips responded. A trio of Houndour ran out, and hopped around the Houndoom.

"Hello Meema!" One said. "You're finally back!"

"Yes, I'm back." He chuckled. Can you get the others? I have a new member to join us." The smallest Houndour ran back into the cave, barking a bit. A Houndoom came out with her child.

"Hello dear. Flare said you had someone to join us?"

"Yes, I do." Houndoom gestured with his tail to me, and I waved shyly.

"Oh!" The Houndour that had been called Flare said. "You're like the others!"

"Yeah!" The third stated. "He's a special one too!" She ran back into the cave, and I could hear her talking to someone. She came bounding out and stood next to her brothers, and two Pokemon came out other the cave carefully. A Shinx and Absol sniffed around, and caught sight of me.

"Hello." The Shinx said. "Are you our new family member?"

"He's another miscoloured Pokemon." Absol told him. "And I don't think he'd be able to stay on his own in the wild."

"I'd be happy to join you." I said, smiling at them all. "If you don't mind, that is."

"Of course we don't!" Flare said. "We can teach you fire stuff too!"

"We also teach Absol Dark type moves, though we have a friend that has to teach Shinx." The second one, who hadn't spoken until that point, said. I smiled.

"This should be great fun." The Houndour who had just spoken came over to my tail and batted the flame.

"Flicker, don't." Houndoom scolded.

"Sorry." He said, running back to the others. "Come on, let's show our friend around!" I was dragged away by the eldest, and the others followed, showing me the area they stayed in.

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Around two months later, I had gotten the hang of most of my weaker moves, but things like Fire Fang were still a problem. It turns out, however, that it would have been good to get my powerful attacks, considering. It had been Absol who felt them first, and had started growling.

"What's wrong?" Shinx asked.

"There's something on my danger sense. It's pretty prominent too, but I can't tell you what it is."

"Well, if there's something dangerous, we best be ready to fight it." Houndoom said, standing up and turning to face the cave entrance, her mate joining her. A screeching noise came from outside the clearing, and a pack of Mightyena burst through the trees, sniffing at the ground. Three humans followed.

"Hunters." Houndoom snarled, a growl rising. One of the Mightyena noticed us, and barked, calling the others over. The humans said something I didn't understand, but the Mightyena bounded towards us. Both Houndoom used Flamethrower, splitting the pack and damaging a few of them. "Listen. All of you run. Split off in different directions, and find a place to hide. We'll follow after." The six of us nodded, and we all jetted off, heading in different directions. The pack of Mightyena looked confused for a second, then started after us. I wasn't sure how the others would do, but I kept running. At least, I did, until I was hit by something and got knocked out.

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

I woke up in a metal cage, and could hear a whirring sound. The floor below the cage was jolting around, so I had the impression that we were moving. None of the Mightyena were there, and the humans were talking in the front. I still couldn't understand them, so I ignored the voices and looked around. There were no other Pokemon around, so I guessed that the others had been lucky enough to escape. There was a map with pins in, but it was too far away to see what it was. Not that I could read it anyway. I used my tail flame to see a little better, and peered around a bit more. A sound echoed from the floor, and I looked down, confused. The noise seemed to startle the humans, as they raised their voices. The thing clanged again, and I picked up a little of the speech.

' _ ***^~* #$%* & Moltres! ^%$ ~$%&&~ normal, &* ?' **_It was odd understanding them, but I focused on the name I had heard. Moltres? The legendary fire bird? What on earth was that doing attacking the thing I was in? The floor below my cage started to heat up, to a temperature that I was getting uncomfortable with. This fact told me that I must be in the air, for Moltres to be below me. The floor cracked, and my cage fell through. It landed on something, and I passed out from the still lingering exhaustion from before.

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The next thing I knew, I was in a field, no cage in sight. A human came over and attacked me, then caught me. From there, you know most of my story. I don't want to talk about my time with Damian, but you already know that he was a horrible person. I'm lucky that Alex and the others helped me out, and I want to know what happened to that Moltres, but I don't think I'll ever see it again, seeing as I don't even know where I was when I was rescued. Oh well, I guess that'll always be a mystery.

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 **AN: That's the end of backstory number three!**

 **P: What is with you and legendary Pokemon saving the starters?**

 **T: Also, all three got kidnapped. Much of a theme?**

 **SV: Ok, shut up. I've got a reason for all of them. Deku's is the most vague in terms of the home, but both the others…**

 **P: Shadow! Shut up before you spoil too much!**

 **SV: Ok, ok.**

 **T: I noticed there was no Team Rocket in this one.**

 **SV: They had to be different somehow, right?**

 **P: By the way, was that three shiny Pokemon? Why?**

 **SV: I said that the little 'city' of Pokemon in the mountains didn't like Pokemon of a different colouration to the normal ones. Anyway, I think that went ok.**

 **P: We'll leave off here, and see you all next time!**


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: Hello again everyone! I'm glad to see you all!**

 **P: Hope you enjoy the new chapters!**

 **T: All of which aren't as rushed as the last few.**

 **SV: Yeah, they weren't that good. I'll see you at the bottom, don't own Pokemon, let's go.**

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 **Chapter 50.**

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Myself and the group were now well on the way to Celadon City. We had left the beach town two days ago, with Rosa explaining what had happened and why to the officials. Without mentioning the hybrids, of course. Actually, I haven't give Ky much battle time. I want to use her against Blaine, maybe Koga… I haven't really used Star much either. She was on my active team right now, as Joey was resting at the lab.

"Hey Ash." I said, stopping my walking.

"What's up?"

"Feel like a quick battle? I need to give Star something to do now."

' _ **What about me?'**_ Ky whined, sliding out of my bag. ' _ **I haven't gotten a proper battle!'**_

"You fought Sukima and Rosa's Zoroark." I pointed out.

' _ **Sukima wasn't a proper battle, and Zoroark was a tag team.'**_ She replied.

"I'm letting you solo run Cinnabar."

"As interesting as this probably is, shall we get on with it?" Ash interrupted. I guess he must be feeling a little left out.

"Right. Star, battleground!"

"Zack, let's try something out!"

' _ **I'll do my best Alex.'**_ Star said, firmly facing her opponent.

' _ **I'll try my best too Ash.'**_ Zack frowned.

"You can start Ash." I said.

"You're mistake. Zack, use Slash!"

' _ **Right!'**_ Zane lunged forwards. He seemed eager to make up for what he did before.

"Star, get close." I said. She speed forwards as well. "Now, Wake-up Slap!"

' _ **Take this!'**_ She called, slapping the other with a super effective move.

' _ **Ouch!'**_ He growled. ' _ **Take this!'**_

"Zane, X-scissor!"

"Star's a Fairy type, remember? Disarming Voice!" She let out a charming shout, blasting Zane backwards. He stood up, growling, and lunged at Star again before Ash could say anything. His claws took on a steel like shine, and he scratched a Star.

' _ **Ouch! That hurt!'**_ She whined.

"That looked a lot like Metal Claw." Bella observed from the sidelines.

"That's an egg move, right?" Leo asked.

"It is." Amy replied.

"I say we stop there. We don't need our Pokemon getting too hurt." I said. "Is that ok?"

"Sure thing." Ash went over to Zane.

' _ **Sorry I did badly Ash.'**_ He said, hanging his head. Bella released Grace to use Heal Pulse, and she translated.

"Hey, don't worry about it." He smiled. "Star's got a lot more battle experience than you, so I didn't really expect you to win."

' _ **And I think you did really well!'**_ Star cheered, going over to them as Grace started Heal Pulse on Zane.

' _I agree.'_ A voice, not Grace, said telepathically. ' _That was very good.'_

"Who said that?" Ash asked, recognising the telepathy.

' _That would be us.'_ A faint ripple in the air showed movement, followed by another. Then a light blue flash, like fire, revealed a Latias and Latios before us. My first thoughts went to some of our old friends that we'd met thanks to Melody, but that was dismissed as quickly as it had come. Both forms shone white, and shifted to show Diana and a boy that I didn't know.

"Oh hi Di!" Crystal waved.

"Howdy folks." She grinned back. "Bet you didn't expect to see us here, huh?"

"No, we really didn't." Bella said. "But who's this?"

"This is Edward." She replied, gesturing. "He's another Ditto that I met back home."

"Hello. Diana's said quite a bit about you." He said.

"Seeing as we're here, let's let some old friends talk, shall we?" Di pulled four Pokeballs out of her bag, and released the rest of the former Squirtle Squad. Leo grinned, and released Umiko. The five started chatting immediately, and we shared a smile.

"They haven't been any trouble, have they?" Amy asked.

"No, they've been great." She smiled. "Their troublemaking attitude was a bit of an issue at first, but they've been fine for a while."

"Talking about things that happened a while ago." I interrupted, unclipping a Pokeball from my belt. "Meet my newest teammate." I released Mimik, and she landed in front of me.

' _ **Hello Alex!'**_ She said cheerfully, waving up at me.

"Hello little one." I replied, picking her up.

' _ **The number of things here that look human and aren't is too high.'**_ Pikachu sighed.

"So, you have a Ditto now?" Diana said, coming over to look. "Where did you find her?"

"I got her on the SS Anne."

' _ **Who's this?'**_

"I'm Diana, and this is Edward." She introduced herself as the other 'Ditto' came over.

' _ **Hello!'**_ She waved.

"I was hoping you could teach her to make a human form and talk." I explained.

"We probably could." She replied, a little dubiously. "But it would take a long time."

' _ **I don't care! I want to be able to walk around with humans and talk to them!'**_ She said.

"Well, she sure is excited." Edward grinned. "We'll hang around for a while and help her out."

' _ **Yay!'**_ Mimik bounced out of my arms. ' _ **When can we start?'**_ Diana opened her mouth to reply, but a robot crashed down and a motto streamed out of it.

"Do these guys just not give up, or…? Amy said, facepalming.

"Are these the same guys from the thing with the Squirtle Squad?" Diana asked.

"Yup." I replied. "This is the same squad of idiots."

"Hey!" Jessie called down. "WE ARE NOT IDIOTS!"

"Considering you keep coming after us, I'd say you are." Ash remarked.

"Well, we've learned from those mistakes." Said James.

"And you aren't coming after us anymore 'cause you know you'll just lose?" Amy snarked.

"No! We made the machine immune to electricity, that's what!" Meowth yelled. We were all silent for a long moment.

"Did they get stupider?" Diana asked.

"I don't think that's even possible." Crystal told her.

"Would you like the honours of blasting them off?" Bella said.

"Our pleasure." The Ditto hybrids stepped up. "Anything in particular?"

"Nah, just send them away." I dismissed. "I don't want to have to listen to them any longer than necessary."

"Fair point." Edward said. "They're already getting on my nerves." Both went white, and a Ditto flickered in their place for a moment before a Latias and Latios floated again. Both charged a powerful attack, and threw it at the robot.

"Team Rocket's only getting three seconds of screen time this chapter!" They yelled, flying off. Ash looked at me quizzically, as though I knew what they meant, but I shrugged.

"Well, that was fun." Amy said.

"And anticlimactic." Diana added, shifting back. "Are they ever a threat?"

"No." We all said together.

"Right. Where were we?"

' _ **Teaching me to talk!'**_ Mimik yelled.

"Of course." Diana crouched down and picked her up. "Let's get moving to wherever it is you're going."

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Around two hours later, we reached Celadon City. I checked the time.

"We might be able to get all our battles in today, if we hurry."

"I'm going to see if I can pick some stuff up." Diana said. "I'll meet you all later." She put Mimik down and returned the rest of the Squirtles, then ran off.

"I'd better go with her." Edward sighed, rolling his eyes. He left too, and Leo returned Umiko.

"Let's go to the Pokemon Center." Bella said.

"Can you get Deku checked too?" I asked, handing over his Pokeball. "I'll meet you at the gym." She nodded, and the other five split off to head to the Center. I walked through the city myself, and soon got caught in the more busy shopping area. A little ways through, I got shoved by somebody, and fell into someone else.

"I'm sorry." I quickly apologized.

"No harm done." He replied. "Just be more careful." I pushed my way through the crowd, and Ky popped up near my ear.

' _ **There was something odd about that guy.'**_

' _Like, hybrid odd, or just plain odd?'_ I asked telepathically.

' _ **Not sure, but there was a darkish aura around him.'**_

' _Well, it's not our problem.'_ I thought. ' _Don't worry about it.'_ We arrived at the gym with no more interruptions, and I spoke to Erika, the leader. I explained to her that there were three of us challenging, and she nodded.

"Alright. I'll do three one on ones then." I agreed, and the others arrived a few minutes later. "Welcome. Your friend here has explained that the three of you are battling. Who will go first?" We looked at each other, and Leo smiled.

"Let Ash go first. His battle will probably be the quickest."

"Right." They waited as the rest of us got out of the way. "Blitz, let's go!"

"A Fire type? Well, the type advantage won't help you much! Weepinbell, go! Razor Leaf!"

"Blitz, use Ember to burn those leaves, then Flame Burst!"

' _ **Ok!'**_ He quickly burned the incoming Razor Leaves, then used a bigger burst of fire to hit the Weepinbell. It flinched away from the flames, and Blitz capitalised on that by dashing forward and Scratch on the Grass type.

"Weepinbell, try using Sleep Powder while it's close!"

"Dodge back and try to block it with another Flame Burst!" The fire attack burned through all of the spores and exploded, knocking Weepinbell out.

"Well, I should have expected that. Here, the Rainbow Badge." Ash and Leo swapped places. "Right. Tangela, you next!"

"Umiko, let's fight!"

"A Water type? I'll going to assume that you have a good plan here. Tangela, use Vine Whip!"

"Umiko, use Rapid Spin to get out of the way, then Water Pulse!" The shiny Squirtle flew straight up and out of range from the grass attack, and shot a ball of water at it. "Now, dive in there and use Bite!"

"Tangela, grab it! Then use Mega Drain!" Umiko was quickly wrapped up in vines, and Tangela started to drain her energy.

"Umiko! Try and get free!" She started struggling, but it was almost impossible to move.

"Sorry, but your Squirtle's all wrapped up." Erika laughed.

' _ **No… I'm… not!'**_ She growled. ' _ **I will not lose!'**_ A bright white glow came over her, causing Tangela to drop her in surprise, and she landed perfectly, despite the energy drain she had suffered. ' _ **Eat this!'**_ She fired a huge Water Pulse, and a few moments later the glow around her disappeared. A Wartortle stood in her place, and Tangela lay on the floor, knocked out. ' _ **And stay down.'**_ She smiled cockily.

"Great job Umiko!" Leo shouted over to her. Erika shook herself.

"That was definitely unexpected. Congratulations on such good teamwork." She passed him a Rainbow Badge as well. "Now, I believe that you're up next?" She said, turning to me."

"That's right!" I hopped onto the field. "Deku, let's rock!"

"Gloom, to battle!"

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 **Chapter 51.**

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 ***? POV.***

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

Just outside the gym arena, a person crouched in the shadows. It was extremely hard to see them, and at first glance they looked like they _were_ a shadow, not an actual person. They watched through the window of the gym, seeing the third challenger, the girl who had arrived first, take place on the field. She sent out a shiny Bulbasaur, and their eyes widened. Not because of the shiny, from what he'd seen they all had far too much luck, but at the fact that it _was_ a shiny Bulbasaur, and _they'd_ captured one a few years prior, only to lose it at the base, of all places. They grinned, and took a phone of some kind out of their pocket. Pressing a few buttons, another man appeared on screen, also covered in shadow.

" _What is it?"_

"I've been scouting the city as ordered. I've found a group of six that seem to hold a lot of promise."

" _Congratulations. Have you recruited them yet?"_

"Not yet. I believe this may be a job for Soul and Heart. After all, one of them has a Pokemon that might be of interest to them."

" _Oh really now? What may that be?"_

"I believe it may be the relation of their two newest team members. The one that slipped away two years ago."

" _That is good news. I'll send them an alert. They're not in the region at the moment, but I'm sure they'll be over in a moment when I tell them. Continue the good work, Agent Oblivion."_

"Shall I return now, Agent Freeze?"

" _Continue to scout them for now. Return back when Soul and Heart get there."_

"Yes sir." He closed off the call, and Agent Oblivion smiled grimly. "Good luck to the younglings. I hope you see sense and join us." With that, he stepped back, and melted into the shadows as though he had been a dream.

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 ***Alex's POV.***

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"Gloom, start this with Sunny Day!" The light grew brighter, and I knew exactly what she would use next.

"Deku, use Razor Leaf!"

"Gloom, ignore that attack and use Solar Beam!"

"Dodge as best you can, then use Venoshock! Heal with Synthesis!" Gloom was a Grass and Poison type, so not many of Deku's moves were able to work well on it.

"Gloom, use Acid!" Of course, we had the same typing, so not much he had to hurt us either.

"Try Razor Leaf again!"

' _ **Actually Alex, I think I can do one better.'**_ He said back, before firing a different attack at it.

"Was that Fury Cutter?" I asked him. He nodded. "Great! Keep that up!"

"Gloom, don't let it hit you! Rapid fire Acid and stop it from attacking!"

"Just dodge around them! Try and hit it whenever you can!" The next few minutes of the battle was just Deku hopping away from Acid attacks and using Fury Cutter, which was getting more powerful every time it hit. On a few occasions a Light Screen would appear and block the attacks that he couldn't dodge.

"Try using Solar Beam and Acid!" Damn it. Should have known she'd try something else. Deku was pretty tired now, so it was unlikely he would be able to dodge.

"Well, if we can't dodge, we'll try something else. Deku, Fury Cutter once more, then a cloud of Razor Leaves!"

' _ **What's this for, then?'**_ He asked, firing the cloud of leaves.

"Wait, stop the Solar Beam!" Erika shouted, realizing my plan too late. The Solar Beam tore through most of the leaves, but was heavily weakened by it.

"Deku, Light Screen!" He formed the Psychic wall in front of him, and the weakened Solar Beam bounced right off it and back at Gloom, knocking it out.

"Well done! That was an excellent use of an unorthodox strategy to deal with my Gloom. Here, the Rainbow Badge." I thanked her, and returned Deku.

"Come on guys, let's get these three to the Pokemon Center. I think they deserve it, don't you?"

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 ***? POV.***

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

A few regions away, a boy with black hair and blue streaks was talking on a phone.

"Back to Kanto, huh? What's so good about this deal?" He was silent for a few moments, then grinned. "Sounds good. I'll get my sister and we'll be back within a week." He hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. "Hey sis! C'mon, we've got a job to do!"

"What is it?" A girl with blonde hair and red streaks walked over.

"Back in Kanto. Couple of possible recruits, and they think that they have the one that 'escaped' a few years back."

"The third of the family?" She checked. "Sounds decent."

"What do you say to the job then?"

"I say…" She unclipped a few Pokeballs and aimed them at the two Pokemon they'd had as starters, a Blaziken and Greninja, before handing the Greninja back to her brother. "Let's fly to Kanto!"

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 **AN: Foreshadowing!**

 **T: Too much foreshadowing, in my opinion. It seemed a little obvious what was happening.**

 **P: Only because you read the plot before Shadow wrote it.**

 **SV: True. I hope this chapter went ok. I think it did. Also, I mentioned it on Child of Mew and I'll mention it here. New Beginnings is nearing a close on this first book. There's about 4 or 5 chapters left planned before the end of this, so I'm going to be putting more focus on writing this. The hiatus I did more on CoM, but more of my writing focus is going towards this to get this done by the years end. After that, back to CoM until January/February, when I'll start the next of this.**

 **P: Also, Shadow has been writing another story that she might start uploading once this is over, as she has quite a lot written for that one too!**

 **SV: Yeah, the hiatus was more a cycle of procrastination, writers block, school, and trying to remake my Living Dex in Alpha Sapphire before the new games come out.**

 **T: And the shiny Mewtwo hunt in SoulSilver.**

 **SV: That too. Anyway, I'll leave it here and see you all next time!**


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: Hello everyone!**

 **P: We're back!**

 **T: We were gone a week or so, shut up.**

 **SV: Stop being a spoilsport Trix. Anyway, is everything goes to plan, you know what day it is.**

 **P: I don't! What's the secret?**

 **T: Oh, I had actually forgotten about that. Hang on. *Bolts away, comes back with a stack of paper.* Let's see… Chapter 26… Ahah, here it is! *Carefully shows Pixie.***

 **P: Oh, now this will be good. I remember seeing this now.**

 **SV: I'm going to cut you off there, and say that I don't own Pokemon, now go and read. Also, timeskip because I don't want to write that one week.**

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 **Chapter 52.**

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 ***Timeskip: 1 week.***

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

' _ **This has been a really long week.'**_

"Indeed it has, little one."

The past week _had_ been really long. The most of it had been us spending all day in a forest, helping Mimik practise her transform. She'd wanted to get the speech down first, despite the fact that learning the quick transforms the Ditto hybrids could do would have been easier for her, so she would copy Diana's human form while they practised. It had taken forever just to get little bits of words out, but she could get some simple things now. Though, she tended to revert to Pokespeech when she couldn't say a word, which was fairly often. We had all been expecting that, so we were working through it slowly. Mimik liked to practise with Ash, as he would be able to tell her when she started talking Pokespeech, since sometimes she dropped back without noticing. I looked around our little clearing again. Spark and Pikachu were talking on the far side, and sometimes would exchange Thunderbolts. Ash and Mimik were talking on the side, with Grace there to translate when Mimik needed help figuring out how to say something in English. Which, from what I could overhear, was every few seconds. Crystal and Amy had literally flew off a half hour ago, heading out of the clearing and passing overhead a minute after. Leo was sitting with Rema and Joey, talking about the battles they'd had. And Bella was reading. As per usual. Ky was lying next to me, with her head on my lap.

' _ **It's typical that Crystal and Amy are the two that broke first.'**_

' _Yeah.'_ I chuckled telepathically. ' _Out for a fly in broad daylight. At least they're pretty safe.'_

' _ **Crystal blends in pretty well, and Amy can go tiny.'**_ Ky nodded. ' _ **I was more surprised that you**_ **let** _ **them go.'**_

' _Well, they didn't exactly_ say _anything. They just slipped off.'_

"Hey Alex!" Bella called. "Can you come here?" Ky sighed and moved off my lap, and I held out her arm to let her loop around before standing and walking over.

"Whatcha reading, Bel?"

"This." She marked her page and handed it over to me.

"'Shadow Pokemon Tales?'" I read, handing it back. "What's it all about?"

"I don't know if you remember it, since it was around three or four years ago, and I think you were all at home when it was on the news, but there was an incident in a region called Orre at that time." I frowned.

"I… actually think I remember that. You and Amy were the only ones at the house in Pallet, and you came back worried about it." We had subconsciously lowered our voices as we started talking about home, and I noticed it now. "Why bring it up?"

"'Cause this book has _every single documented case_ of Shadow Pokemon being made." She replied, opening to the first page and flicking through carefully. "It's been rewritten a bunch of times, but some of these go back to even before the Great War of the Aura Guardians." She flipped to one of the pages near the front. The first, from what I can tell, is actually from around ten thousand years back!"

"Wait a minute." I scanned back through my memories of the hybrid history I had once learned. It was a little fuzzy, but... "You're telling me, that the first documented case of a Shadow Pokemon being made, was around _the same time as the hybrids were first created?_ "

"Yep." Bella was grinning from ear to ear. "Looking through, it actually makes sense. Until about a hundred or two years ago, Shadow Pokemon had to be made carefully. It was really dangerous for them. They could be made naturally, but these were uncontrollable. It doesn't say how they were made, either natural or otherwise, and I suppose that's for the best, but if we look along here…" She opened the first page again. "We can see something else. It isn't part of the book, as the rest is in a computer print and it's the most recent copy, but something is scribbled here. Their handwriting is _horrible_ though, or maybe they were in a rush, but I can sort of make out a bit."

' _ **Really?'**_ Now this had gotten Ky's interest. She wasn't much on the book end of things, though she'd sometimes read through things I bought back from the library, but this was definitely worth her interest. ' _ **What's it say?'**_

"Like I said, it's almost illegible, but I can see 'Au- -ur-, -lo-ta so-', and what _could_ be an 'n'."

' _ **What do you think it could mean?'**_

"Not a clue. Maybe it's something to help make them? Maybe a cure?" She shrugged helplessly. "I can't see anything else in the book that might hint to it, so it's a dead end."

"One last thing. How on _earth_ did you get this?"

"When we first saw the Lugia twins, I asked them to drop the books I had borrowed back into the library and pick up some new ones, so long as it wasn't a problem. At Rosa's, they passed along a set of books from one of the far ends of the shelves, where nothing was marked."

' _ **Marked? What do you mean?'**_

"Oh, I forgot I hadn't shown this." She went to her bag and pulled out a huge piece of paper. "I drew out the shelf layout for the library, with marks to show what shelves I'd read." The whole thing was unfolded now, and she pointed. "I passed it to Lillian, and she just pulled a row off to give me." Grabbing a pencil from… somewhere, she carefully marked off the next row.

"Well, fair play." I shrugged, wary of Ky, now around my neck. "I can't really complain about that. Though, maybe we should be a bit more cautious. I think we've all kinda forgotten that Ash doesn't know." I shot a glance over to him. Seeing that he was still helping Mimik, I continued. "I guess we're getting too used to having the others around. Though, I wish we'd have told him."

"Yeah." Leo nodded, joining in the conversation. "There's only two obvious options here."

"Either we be more cautious about what we say, or we tell him." Bella nodded.

"I agree." Crystal said, appearing. "Personally, I vote to be more careful. Ash is a great friend, don't get me wrong, but the fewer people who know, the better."

"I'm not sure about that." I replied. "I think Ash should know. Have a nice flight, by the way?"

"Yeah, it was great. Amy just headed back to Celadon to pick some stuff up for us. She'll be back in a little while."

"Right. Just as long as she doesn't get into trouble, I'm fine with that." Bella shook her head. "I swear, sometimes she has to forget that she's the eldest."

"Moving Amy's immaturity aside, I have to agree with Alex on this one. It's Ash, and we've known him forever. I feel kind of bad for not saying anything before." Leo continued, bringing the topic back around.

"I'm not sure either." Bella admitted. "I'd like to tell him, like you said he's been our friend forever, but I also agree with what Crystal said." She shrugged and replaced her book in her bag. "I'll decide later. For now…" She sighed, and swapped to telepathy. ' _We'll keep an eye out.'_

' _Sure thing.'_ Crystal nodded slightly. "What were you reading?"

"Oh, it's a documentation of Shadow Pokemon. You can take a look after I finish reading through it."

"What's a Shadow Pokemon?" Leo frowned. "It sounds familiar, but I can't think of where from."

"Remember a couple years back, when me and Amy were the only ones here, aside from Dad?" She asked, to two nods. "Well, it was on the tv back then about a region called Orre. They'd had a Shadow Pokemon outbreak, but it was stopped by a couple of teenagers. I can't remember their names at the moment, but oh well." She shrugged again. "That book has that in there, plus _every single previous encounter ever written down since the first time hybrids came around!_ "

"What." Leo said blankly.

"Seriously." She took the book out again and pointed to the first entry. "This dates back around ten thousand years. There's something written here, but neither of us can make it out." She passed the book over, but neither of the others could make it out either.

"Yeah, I've got nothing." Crystal sighed, passing it back to Bella, who put it away again. "Maybe we could pass it to Amy when she gets back from her trip." Further conversation was halted when a duplicate of me came running over.

"Hi guys!" She waved. "What are you talking about?" Bella's eyes lit up.

"Oh! Well done Mimik! That was perfect!" The little Ditto grinned.

"Thanks! I have been pra… prac…"

"Practising." Ash told her, coming over.

"Practising." She repeated slowly.

"Good job." I smiled. "Give it a little while and you'll get it down fine!" My double flickered back to her normal shape.

' _ **Thanks for the vote of confidence.'**_ She yawned. ' _ **But it's tiring. Can I have a rest now?'**_

"Of course." I took out her Pokeball. "Plan on continuing practise tomorrow?"

' _ **Yup!'**_ She smiled at us all and waved. ' _ **Bye!'**_ Then she tapped the ball and was sucked back in.

"How come it's so tiring for her?" Ash asked.

' _I was translating.'_ Grace telepathed to me.

"It's because she's not used to it." I said. "It's hard to imagine for us, 'cause we speak it naturally, but remember that she's learning a pretty complicated language, and in a form that she only started to use last week. It's been hard enough getting her used to walking on two legs, so using an entirely different body structure to make almost alien sounds is going to be tiring."

"I guess that makes a lot of sense." He nodded. Once again, any more conversation was stopped when two shadows passed by us with a small, humming tune.

' _Guys?'_ I asked. ' _Did the Ditto twins come back for a second visit?'_ Bella closed her eyes.

' _Nope. Different aura.'_ She told me.

' _And why would the come back anyway?'_ Leo added. ' _They left last week.'_

' _True.'_ I nodded, as two smoke bombs detonated around us.

"What the heck is going on?" Ash coughed.

"Grace!" Crystal asked. "Help us out?"

' _Of course.'_ She replied, sending out a psychic pulse and removing the smoke.

"Awww, they're ruining our entrance!" A female voice complained.

"Well, we'll just have to get them back for it, won't we?" A boy replied.

"Who are you?!" Ash yelled.

"Oh, dear me. We never introduced ourselves, did we?" The girl drawled.

"Let's change that."

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!

"To infect this world with devastation!"

"To blight the people of every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness in truth and love!"

"To extend this wrath to the stars above!"

"With Heart!"

"And Soul too!"

"Team Rocket, taking over all at the speed of light!"

"You should surrender now, before you lose this fight!"

"Team Rocket AGAIN?!" Ash growled. "Why can't they leave us alone?"

"Oh?" The girl, who had referred to herself as Heart, said, floating down with a jetpack. "You have troubles with Team Rocket, you say?"

"Well that's no good." The other, Soul, continued, following her down. Both of them were wearing hoods, concealing their faces. "That either means they're trouble makers who keep messing with us…"

"Or maybe have Pokemon rare enough to merit being stolen." Heart finished.

 _Thank Arceus Ky had enough sense to hide when she heard the motto start._ I thought. _We already get annoyed by the trio, though that isn't all that often._

"Well, how about we ask a question." Soul smiled. "Would you like to heed the mottos warning and leave us alone?"

"Or maybe you'd like to join us?"

"You'd keep your teams, but you'd have to work your way up to admins first. Though," Soul gave us a calculating glance. "I get the feeling that some of you would have no problem making it up there."

"So what do you think about that offer, huh?" Heart grinned, as if the answer was written on our faces. Which, from the glance I gave to Bella and Crystal, who had moved over to stop Ash or Leo from charging, it probably was.

"There's no way we'd join Team Rocket!" Bella growled. "Esmeralda, guard duty, go!"

"Deku, let's fight!" I joined in, letting my little Bulbasaur join the Pokemon that was basically his older sister. Bella shot me a glance.

' _Seriously? You're bringing out a_ shiny Bulbasaur _against_ Team Rocket _?'_

' _Hey, if I didn't, Ky would probably jump in on the action.'_ I argued.

' _Yeah, but you can hear them plotting to steal him.'_

"Well." Soul chuckled. "Would you look at that."

"I know right?" Heart was giggling too. "Looks like Oblivi was right after all. This'll be a nice reunion!" Both sent out Pokemon. Heart had an Eevee, and Soul had an Ivysaur.

"Awww, look at that." Crystal sneered. "Little baby Pokemon for their wimpy Team Rocket trainers." Deku winced.

"What's wrong bud?" I asked.

' _ **That's Eve and Sis.'**_ He shook his head. ' _ **It has to be.'**_ Both of the Rockets winced as well, but I hardly noticed.

"Do you want to swap? I can have Spark go instead-"

' _ **No. I need to do this.'**_ He set his stance. ' _ **I don't know what they did, but they changed something. So I'm going to help you fix it.'**_

"Ok." I heard Leo move behind me.

' _I'm taking Mimik. I hope neither of you mind.'_

' _Go ahead.'_ I replied, focusing.

"Like I said, little Bulbasaur, a nice reunion for the one that got away."

"Yeah. Lucia and Lucian didn't stop hearing about that one for _weeks_." Soul growled. "Now, Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf!"

' _ **Sis, please, don't listen to him!'**_ Deku pleaded.

"They can't hear you little one. The Shadows cut it off." Heart laughed. "Eevee, Swift!"

"Es, stop them both with Petal Blizzard!"

"Deku, retaliate with Grass Whistle!" A small tune later, and both enemy Pokemon were put to sleep.

"Dammit, wake up!" Heart commanded.

"Nope. Es, lift Deku and Earthquake!" Everyone started floating ever so slightly off the ground, thanks to Grace. None of us could use our powers, after all. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tiny blue flicker, leaving a red wing visible for a second.

' _I showed her what a Latias looked like and taught her how to bend the light around herself.'_ Leo informed us telepathically. ' _It isn't working great, but it should be good enough for her to steal the Pokeballs for those two and get away.'_

' _Good plan.'_ Crystal said approvingly. ' _I think they put the balls on the back of their belt. Right in a place where a theft would be able to go unnoticed by normal people.'_

' _I just hope she can get back in time.'_ I responded. Just then, the Earthquake ended, and both Pokemon woke up as Es placed Deku back down.

"Good. Stupid Pokemon. The Arceus damned Shadows stop them thinking, I swear…" Soul trailed off, shaking his head. Deku growled lowly.

' _ **Right. That's it. Your Arceus damned Team Rocket 'Elites' kidnapped me, my sister and my best friend, set fire to the section of the forest that we, and many others, had made our homes, took us to a base that I barely escaped, made some form of monsters out of the only Pokemon I had left from home, and then finally chose to insult them because of these 'Shadows' that**_ **you** _ **most likely created and forced onto them! Now you will PAY!'**_ Deku stamped his foot, and around two dozen rocks rose up from the floor, glowing an ominous purple. From there, several things happened at once.

First, Mimik as a Latias lost her cloak as she took the Pokeballs from the belts of the Rockets. This caused Heart to turn around and spot her backing away slowly, losing her hood in the process. Soul then turned to see what had startled her, taking both of their attentions off the fight. The red streaked blond hair went everywhere, and caused Bella to gasp.

Second, the huge Ancient Power Deku had charged was thrown at the two Pokemon and knocked them out, and one smaller one hit Soul, causing him to flinch and a blue shield to appear before a second could hit.

Third, and the least noticeable, a small book fell to the floor, dislodged from its holding place by the Ancient Power.

And fourth, Deku was glowing bright white. His roar as an Ivysaur caused the Rocket Elites to turn back to the battle, and promptly realise they had lost. Mimik used the distraction to fly back to Leo's side and hand over the Pokeballs before transforming into me once again. 'Soul's jaw dropped, as did 'Heart's.

"A Latias?" She gasped.

"No, a Ditto." I responded, a slight growl rising.

"And besides," Crystal stepped forwards, not even bothering to try and hide it, or the slight white in her eyes that was getting brighter by the second, leaving almost invisible ice crystals in her blue hair. "You already know her form, _you little traitors!'_

"Well, I guess our cover's blown." Lucian flipped back his own hood and glared at us. "I can't say I'm surprised."

"And you clearly haven't changed, Bella." Lucia continued. "Two years ago, we were all upstarts in our own way. New trainers in you and Amy, and low ranking Elites for Team Rocket. Then we had a set of grunts come wandering in, tails between their legs, and complaining about a green haired upstart destroying them with a pink haired one." She shook her head. "How times have changed."

"Indeed." Bella spat. "And to think we were once friends."

"Well, we're in a bit of a predicament." Lucian said. "Not only did we fail to either recapture our escaped Bulbasaur or get you on our side, but also lost the battle and the Pokeballs for these two." He shot a look at the knocked out Pokemon.

"And now we have a lot of angry 'brids staring us down." Lucia noted. "Well, I think we only have one option here."

"Retreat." Lucian brushed off his hands and flew away, Lucia close behind. A piece of paper dropped onto the book, but again I barely noticed. I was too busy trying to defuse an angry Crystal and Bella, and make sure they didn't attempt murder. Mimik took the Pokeballs off Leo again and aimed them at the Pokemon the Rockets had left. She then patted both Es and Deku on the head, then took the other Pokeballs off Bella and myself to return them.

"Those Arceus damn traitors." Crystal growled.

"I know, but we can't do anything." I said. "Next time we see them, we'll give them hell to pay. For now, let's help the poor Pokemon they left behind." A pink blob descended on us all, which stilled for a little while to show a Mew, who squeaked sadly and turned into Amy.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner guys! I was coming back from the trip, I got everything we needed, and I saw that they were Team Rocket so I didn't come down in case they tried to capture me, thinking I was a Mew, and then I saw it was Lucia and Lucian and I got worried so I came as fast as I could and…" She started talking extremely fast, then trailed off.

"What?" I asked. She just motioned that we turn around.

Ash was standing there with his jaw practically on the floor.

"Ok. Those two Elites mentioned ''brids', whatever that means, Alex has a form of some kind, and Crystal has ice in her hair. And a Mew just appeared that turned into Amy." He took a breath. "Can someone please tell me what in the Distortion World is going on?" The five of us stood there silently, as did the Pokemon. Finally, I just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Damn it."

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 **AN: Uh oh.**

 **P: The hybrids goofed up.**

 **T: I think this is a case of 'be careful what you wish for.'**

 **SV: I'm just going to leave this here, but before we go, here's a guessing game! In the chapter, there was the broken up bit of text scribbled in the book. I'd like to see what everyone thinks that might mean. It won't actually be touched on much more in this book, and the reveal isn't until the next one, so there's plenty of time for guessing. Good luck to you all, and I'll see you again!**

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	27. Chapter 27

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 **AN: Hello all!**

 **P: Howdy!**

 **T: I've got a good feeling about this!**

 **SV: Well, I won't hold everyone up. I'm sure you don't need a refresher of what happened last time, so I'll just go!**

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 **Chapter 53.**

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I sighed.

"Sorry I screwed up guys." Amy said quietly. "I was just worried and forgot…"

"Don't panic." Leo sighed. "It had to happen soon anyway."

"Can we stop talking as though I'm not here, and explain to me what the heck is going on?" Ash demanded. Spark and Ky climbed back up to my shoulder, and Pikachu nudged his cheek.

' _ **Calm down friend, they'll explain in a moment.'**_ He said sensibly. ' _ **They just need to organise things, that's all.'**_

"Bud, nothing's changed in the past ten minutes. I still don't understand you."

"Actually Ash, rather a lot has changed, and most of it within the time we've been talking." I explained, before taking charge. "Right, Crystal, get that ice out of your hair. It's not exactly helping. Bel, think you can find a clearing? One that's better than this for the nature of our talk."

"I'll do my best." She nodded.

"I'll help too." Amy whispered. "It's my fault this has to happen anyway."

"Alex?" Mimik called.

"What's wrong?"

"There is something over here." She picked something up from the floor. "A book and a slip of paper."

"Think they left it behind?" Leo asked.

"I am not sure. Do you want it?"

"I'd say pass it to Bella for now." I glanced at them; both of them had white glowing eyes and were focusing on something. "Maybe do so in a minute."

"No need." Bella smiled. "I think I've got a good place."

"Good." Crystal replied. "Let's head over."

"Right. Grace, come on back." She held out the Pokeball, and beckoned to Mimik. "Pass over what you found, I'll take a look later."

"Sure." She handed the book and paper over to Bella, who put them away without looking at them. "I am going back to sleep." She flashed white, going back to her normal form.

"Sorry for waking you up." Leo apologised.

' _ **Not a problem. I'm glad I could help. Night!'**_ She jumped up to tap her Pokeball, going back to sleep again.

"Come on you five!" Amy called. "We'd better get this done."

' _ **Well, you did say you wanted to tell him.'**_ Ky added as we walked.

"Yeah, yeah, just keep laughing about it." I grumbled. "Guess I was probably tempting fate with that one, wasn't I?"

' _ **Yep.'**_ Spark nodded. ' _ **To be honest, I think fate just wanted to mess with you when you said that.'**_

"Ok, very funny." I shook my head. "Let's just get this over with."

' _We'll be there in a minute.'_ Bella informed us. ' _So you'll get your wish soon.'_

' _Thanks.'_ I replied. Spark started at something, and I frowned. ' _What's up?'_

' _ **Look at Ash.'**_ She whispered. I glanced over.

' _Why? What is it?'_

' _ **Can't you see that? There's little blue sparks appearing sometimes.'**_ I frowned again, and kept looking. A few seconds passed with nothing, and I was about to reply when I saw a tiny blue flash fall to the floor.

' _Huh. You're right.'_ I closed one eye, keeping the other on the path. The purely teal aural outline that Ash always had (a small variation to the colours most humans had, as from what I'd seen they could take any colour on the spectrum, from white to black, though the blue I hadn't seen before) was flickering slightly, going from lying flat over him to bursting up like a fire.

' _ **What's it look like?'**_

' _Like it's flickering. It seems more like it's fading on occasion, and rarely flaring up.'_

' _ **Huh, that sounds odd. Is it supposed to do that?'**_

' _Not a clue. I don't really watch many of the human Psychic 'Auras' around, so I haven't seen this. I know the different colours are a thing, but haven't really seen anything like this.'_

' _ **Ask Bella after you guys stop explaining.'**_ Ky recommended. ' _ **Maybe she'll have an idea. She's the super genius, after all.'**_

' _Good plan.'_ I opened my other eye as we all walked into a clearing further away from the road. Bella stopped in the center.

"Amy! Grab some chairs, this is gonna take a while."

"Why me?" She grumbled.

"'Cause you're the one who messed it all up." Crystal rolled her eyes. Amy just clicked, and the area flashed pink and she seemed to ripple for a moment before six chairs appeared in a circle.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Just because I was worried enough about you to not pay as much attention to where I was…"

"Ok girls, stop bickering." I interrupted. "Just sit down and get ready to answer some questions." I took my own seat, and the Pokemon jumped down to lay on the floor. Pikachu went and lay down next to them as the others took their own chairs.

"Righty-o." Leo smiled. "Sit down, ask any questions you want answered straight away, then we'll do our own explaining after we finish with the questions." Ash looked sceptical, but still took his own seat.

"Any restrictions?"

"Nope." Bella replied quickly. "Fire away." Beside her, Amy waved again and summoned a glass of water from where I assume was a pocket world.

"Right." Ash sat silently for a few minutes, collecting his thoughts, before he spoke again. "Is Amy some sort of Mew child or something?" The aforementioned person took a fantastic spit take from the drink she'd just had, along with dropping the glass.

"You ok Amy?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She coughed. "Just… that's great."

"Why?" Ash asked. "What's the problem?"

"There isn't one." She smiled back to him. "It's just… well, the fact that you thought that was surprising. But to answer your question, no, I'm not. Nor am I an actual Mew."

"Ok…" Ash paused, taking that in. "How the heck did you do that then?"

"If you don't mind, we'll get to that later." Bella put in.

"Ok. Not a child of Mew, got it." Amy winced, and we all looked at her.

"What's up?" Leo asked.

"I think I just felt a tap on a dimension barrier somewhere." She replied, looking up and frowning. "I hope we didn't break anything." Ash looked confused, but Amy stopped him first. "Don't worry about it, it's not your problem. For now, let me just summarise all that like this. I'm not a Mew, nor am I a child of Mew."

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 ***Meanwhile, elsewhere.***

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Somewhere else, a boy with dark blue hair and a girl with vibrant pink hair both sneezed three times in quick succession. A Pikachu looked up.

' _ **What was that about?'**_

"Not sure." The girl replied, looking around. "I think someone just spoke about us, probably ironically."

"Well, I hope they don't do it again." The boy said, frowning. "That was annoying.

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 ***Back with the team.***

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

"Other than that, let's move topics and not say anything about that again. I don't want to keep tapping that barrier."

"Ok then." Ash looked at me this time. "What was that about you having another form? Is that something along the lines of what Amy was on about with her being a kind of Mew?"

"Sorta. It's the same reason." I replied, shrugging. "We'll get to that in a bit. Anyway, for now just know that it's kinda similar."

"Right. Next," He looked over to Crystal. " _Why_ did you have ice crystals in your hair?"

"It's my special power." She held up her hand and focused slightly, bringing white to her eyes and freezing the air above it, creating a small ice shard. She flicked it at Ash, who flinched before it melted in midair, going straight back to being water vapour again. "We all have them, and we'll explain later along with Alex's stuff, and sometimes I kinda lose control and flicker it around. I've been learning to control it, and we all do it really quite well, but I guess what happened back there was probably what set me off."

"Why? What was it that actually made you mad enough to lose control of that?"

"It's another thing we'll get to later. Probably a fair bit after you finish getting your head around everything else."

"And you say you all have your own?"

"Yup." Leo answered him. "Me and Alex have the most boring, in my opinion. Bella is plant manipulation, and Amy just copies other people's abilities."

"Wow." Ash said blankly. "What's yours?"

"We call it Mindscape Diving." I replied. "It's really self explanatory."

"What." He said, eyes wide. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"It's because it's linked to the other thing we need to talk about." I told him. "We'll get there later. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Those two Elites." Both Bella and Amy wilted, and Crystal frowned. "You seemed to know them, and the girl, I think you called her Lucia, said about ''brids', whatever that is. So what gives?" All of us sighed in tandem.

"Right." I nodded. "I'll explain that." I took a breath. "To make this short, since otherwise it'll take a while, they're both part of this little secret thing we need to tell you about, and used to be best friends with Bella and Amy. They were pretty close, even though Lucian and Lucia are seven and five years older."

"So that's why the others were angry about them appearing as part of Team Rocket." Ash realised. "But what about Crystal?"

"Well…" I started, but was interrupted.

"No." Crystal said. "This part's my story." She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "I never really had many friends when I was a kid. Heck, I don't really have all that many now. But Bella and Amy introduced me to those two, and they were some of my first friends outside of my family. The rest I'd rather not talk about."

"Oh." He replied quietly. "I understand now."

"So that's it." Leo said. "That's everything we need to talk about. Aside from one."

"Yeah." Ash nodded. "The thing Lucia said. What was it?"

"Right." Bella and Leo both stood first, and the entire area flickered between pink and normal before it settled around the clearing in a bright pink dome.

"What was that for?"

"A type of illusion field. Set to degrade in five minutes, so no one comes into the middle of this." She explained as the rest of us stood.

"Right. Ground rules are as follows: Don't panic, don't run and scream, that can come later, and don't kill us for not saying anything earlier." I rattled off quickly.

' _ **Just get on with it!'**_ Pikachu shouted. ' _ **I wanna see this reaction!'**_

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Crystal rolled her eyes.

"First off," I took a deep breath, and the others followed. "We… aren't exactly human."

"What."

"And the thing that Lucia said links to that."

"What."

"And her saying ''brids' was a shorthand version of that."

"What."

"And we'll show you exactly what it means in a second."

"And it means hybrids." Amy cut in.

" _What?!_ "

"And I now want to apologize, and say that as soon as we finish, you can leave. Just please don't say anything."

"Right. Go ahead. I don't care." We shot each other a five way worried look, then mentally shrugged.

' _On three?'_

' _Nah'_ Leo smiled. ' _Just go with it now.'_

' _Fine.'_ Crystal took the lead, shining white first. Bella and Amy followed, then Leo, then myself last. We kept ourselves small on an unspoken signal, not wanting to terrify Ash too much. Not like he wouldn't be already. Each of us finished at the same time and landed, with all of us now around two feet tall. Ash stared at us all, and nothing moved for around a minute.

"Guys?"

 _'It's us.'_ Amy told him, and apologetic note to her tone.

"What. The. Actual. Hell."

 _'Yeah, sorry.'_ I floated up slowly and went over to him, trying to keep myself from looking threatening. It clearly didn't work, as he backed up quickly. I froze myself and went back, realising that didn't help.

"You are all these weird Pokemon, and you didn't mention this why?!"

' _Do you know just how hard that would be?'_ Crystal replied, snapping slightly. ' _What did you expect?_ "Hey Ash, we're all hybrids of Pokemon and are all pretty powerful. So how you doing?" _It wouldn't have gone well at all!'_

"Well, maybe it would go better if you'd have bothered to try!"He glared at her, and the small Articuno glared back. "I quit. I'll keep quiet, just because you were good friends, but that's it." He dropped his bag. "Maybe I'll be back later." __He turned and started to walk out of the clearing. Pikachu ran up behind him.

 _ **'Ash, wait-'**_

"No. I won't wait. Stay here with your friends. I don't want you here." He stormed off, and as he exited the field I thought I saw the area around him flash a teal blue, tinted red. Pikachu sat where he had been, and I quickly swapped back. I ran over, Spark and Ky close behind.

"Hey, it's ok, he didn't mean that." I told him quietly, patting his head. Spark went to his other side and linked his tail with her own.

' _ **Trust me, Ash isn't that cruel.'**_

' _ **But… I just wanted to help…'**_ He teared up and curled in on himself slightly.

' _ **He was just in shock, that's all.'**_ Ky added.

"To be fair, that didn't go very well." I winced, then stared at Crystal, who was still roosting as an Articuno. "Did you really have to be so rude?"

' _Well, he_ was _being pretty stupid.'_ She turned her head.

"Get back to human before the shield drops." I patted Pikachu on the head and smiled. "You three go to sleep if you want. I'm going after him." I stood up and started to head out, but a small voice stopped me.

"Wait." I turned, looking over to Bella and Amy, who had sat down again. "Didn't you notice? He actually understood Pikachu." I reviewed the last few minutes, and gasped quietly.

"He did." The two of us traded a look, and I sat down heavily. "How?"

"Don't know. Could be the field screwing up, or maybe he could the entire time and was faking?"

"That'd be pretty hypocritical." Crystal snarked, transforming. "Going on at us for not telling us something."

"No, I don't think it's that." Leo replied, sitting as well. "Too many plot hole- I mean, too many inconsistencies. He'd already have known about hybrids, from when Alex first told Pikachu since he was mentioning it in the lobby of the Center. Plus, why would he bother to hide it from us? He knows we can all understand as well."

"Well, all we can do is guess." Bella's eyes started to glow as she lowered the barrier, then she froze.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

"Look at the barrier. Ignore the Psychic side of what you see, and look." I raised my eyebrows, and so did the others, but we complied. Then all four of us gasped together.

The area where Ash had left was flickering between bright red and blue.

"Blue and red?" Crystal muttered. "How?"

' _ **Think you can force it to show itself?'**_ Spark asked. Bella frowned, and the pink shield slowly changed to show the colours that it had embedded in. The three stared at it for a while.

' _ **What is that?'**_ Pikachu cocked his head.

"If we knew, we'd have said." Leo replied quietly.

' _ **Wait a minute.'**_ We all looked over at Spark. ' _ **Alex, doesn't that blue look familiar? Earlier, when we were walking.'**_

"Right." I said, with dawning comprehension. "There were small blue sparks coming from Ash's hands before. And back with Zangoose, a blue shield covered him for a moment."

"Huh." Bella frowned. "I wonder if there's a reason for that?"

"And by the way Alex, don't bother going after Ash." Amy told me. I looked at her, confused. "He's going to need some time alone after all that. I mean, we just dropped a giant secret on him, and to him the fact we waited so long pretty much proves, to him at least, that we didn't trust him. So, just let him be alone for a while to sort out his thoughts, and then you can go find him."

"I guess that'd be smart." I shrugged and relaxed. "It's not long until sundown, so I'll head to find him then."

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 ***Somewhere along the line of about two and a half hours later.***

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"Ok, forget it, I'm going after him." I said, standing up suddenly.

"No you aren't." Amy interrupted, pulling me back down psychically. "You said sundown, and it's not time yet."

"But-"

" _No._ Don't bother him. Again, he'll need the time to process this, so let him be. Sundown."

"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "Any idea what we should do next? Battling in another world won't work, the board games we have aren't all that good, and cards is close to impossible to play with Psychics."

"Ice marbles?" Crystal suggested.

"That, or we could try it with Judgement." Leo added. We hummed in thought.

"Ah, forget it." Bella said finally, making a throwaway gesture. "Stick a Judgement in ice and start playing marbles with Psychic. I'm going to read, so try not to blow anything up too much."

"Right." Myself and Leo started making tiny Judgements, which Crystal started to wrap in ice. "We'll try and be careful."

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 ***Another hour, two rounds of marbles and one round of ping pong later.***

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"Ok, forget it, actually done waiting." I stood again. "It's practically sundown, so I'm going to go find him." On the other side of the clearing, Pikachu and Spark stopped their impromptu tennis match of lightning and turned to look, letting Ky Ice Beam and Flamethrower it out of existence.

' _ **Can I come?'**_ Pikachu asked.

"I guess that could be a good idea." I picked him up with Psychic and placed him on my shoulder.

"I'll try and monitor these three." Amy grinned, motioning to the others. I looked, and giggled.

Leo was standing at the side, maintaining around five small orbs of Judgement, with Crystal and Bella used two Psychic shields as paddles to play tennis with them. Bella was now reading through another book, looking completely uninterested in the game she was playing.

' _ **Bella looks happy.'**_ Pikachu observed.

"Yeah, well we'll get going then." I waved to the Pokemon, then the others. "Try not to blow the clearing up."

"We won't!" They called as we walked away.

' _ **Think Ash'll have cooled down by now?'**_

"I hope so. Maybe we'll be able to figure out why he could suddenly understand you earlier."

' _ **I hope it wasn't just a fluke and he was guessing. And I hope it was permanent and not a guess.'**_

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see." I closed my eyes and looked around for the teal blue that was Ash. "Huh, that's odd."

' _ **What's up?'**_

"I can't see Ash's signature. It's like it's hidden."

' _ **That doesn't sound good. Can you find it?'**_

"I think so, but it'll be hard. Make sure I don't walk into anything, ok? I'm moving with my eyes closed here."

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 ***And another ten minutes.***

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"There." I looked at a point beyond the trees.

' _ **You've found him?'**_

"Well, unless there's someone around here with the exact same pattern _and_ signature as Ash does, then yes I did." I opened my eyes finally and started to walk straight towards the point, occasionally ducking under branches and around a few bushes. "Hopefully he won't flip too much."

' _ **Yeah.'**_ Pikachu sniffed at the air. ' _ **Nearly there.'**_

"Yeah." I looked around psychically again before putting on a smile. I pushed my way through the trees. Ash was sitting in a tree about five feet off the ground, and froze when we walked in. "Hey."

"Hi." He said quietly.

"You ok now?" I walked over to the bottom of the tree.

"Honestly, I don't know." He sighed. "I feel kinda bad about what I said, but…"

"You don't know how to feel about what you were told." I finished.

"Read my mind?"

"No. We consider it an invasion of personal privacy, so we only do so with permission."

"Oh." He sat there in silence for a few seconds, before I sighed as well.

' _ **Ash, are you sure you're ok?'**_ Pikachu asked, hesitantly. I waited a few seconds, before Ash looked at me.

"Translation?" We shared a glance.

"Looks like it was a fluke then." I said.

"What was?"

"When you left, you answered Pikachu perfectly."

"What?" Ash started to slip out of the tree in shock, so I caught him and lowered him to the ground.

"Mmhmm." I nodded. "He asked you to wait, and you said that you wouldn't wait."

"I don't remember that." Ash winced slightly, and a small, almost familiar, spark of blue flew off his hand. "I hope you aren't joking."

"I'm not-"

"'Cause I really don't believe you at this point, with the amount of crazy stuff you've dropped on me today." He started to turn away again, and I grabbed his arm.

"Ash, just wait."

"Leave me alone." He said, shaking me off.

"Just-"

"I _said, leave me alone!_ " He spun quickly, sweeping his hand back.

I had a shield up before any of us realised _why_. A blue line crashed into my pink shield, leaving a red mark along the hit which vanished slowly. I dropped the shield as quickly as I could, to see Ash staring at his hand. Which was glowing the same blue light that I'd seen sparking all day. I frowned.

"That looks… familiar…" I thought quickly. _Where have I seen that before…_ Then it clicked, and I gasped. I took Pikachu and handed him to Ash. "Stay right here, don't move." I teleported away before either could reply.

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

I reappeared in our clearing. Bella and Amy were now playing tennis, and Crystal was seated at the side.

"Alex?" She said, half standing. "Where's Ash? How come you're back so fast?"

"Don't worry about it, no time to explain, I need to borrow Cobalt." I rattled off quickly.

"Why?"

"I'll get to it later. It's about Ash, long story short I know what the sparks were. Now pass Cobalt over, I'll need his help."

"Ok…" Crystal looked dubious at that, but handed the Pokeball over.

"Right, thanks, I've gotta get back to them."

"Sure, but make sure you explain what's going on when you get back."

"Sure thing!" I flashed away again.

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

"Where did you even just go?"

"Back to the camp." I said as I reappeared. "Still glowing?"

"Yup." He replied, holding up his hand.

"Right. Cobalt, come out, we need your opinion." The Lucario I had known for years burst out of the Pokeball, and bowed slightly to me.

' _ **What do you need Alex?'**_

"Look at Ash." I said simply. He cocked an eyebrow, but turned. His jaw dropped.

' _ **That's-'**_

"That's what I thought." I nodded, then clapped Ash on the back. "So, how we solving this? One of the worlds, or just do it here?"

' _ **It is unlikely that we would be able to do it effectively with one of your creations, since the excess of Psychic power may mess with his focus.'**_

"And from what I know, focus is imperative to learn this." I finished, nodding along. "Ok, looks like it'll be here then."

"Errr, excuse me? What're we talking about here?" Ash asked, confused. I facepalmed.

"I'm getting way too far ahead of myself." Cobalt nodded.

' _ **Indeed you are, cousin.'**_

' _ **What?'**_ Pikachu asked, confused.

' _ **Well, she is also a Pokemon, if only half. And the birth Pokemon of hers and her siblings are my cousins, so why not she also?'**_

' _ **I… suppose…'**_ Pikachu said slowly.

"Ok, enough chatter that Ash can't yet understand." I cut in. "Ash, welcome to Aura training. Aura is a life energy, it lets you see the area without using sight. You can also tell other Aura Users and Psychics apart from normal people without the gifts." I told him. He blinked a few times. "I'm going to fast again, aren't I?"

"Yep." He told me faintly.

"Right." I waved, but other than a small pink flash, nothing happened. I frowned. "I _still_ don't get how Amy learned that…" I rolled my eyes and flashed into a pocket dimension, long enough to grab a couple of chairs from the area I kept the random equipment before leaving again in another pink flash. I placed the chairs on the ground and sat, motioning for Ash to follow.

"Ok. Start again. Slowly, please."

"Ok, but I know very little, so Cobalt will have to help me."

' _ **I'll do my best.'**_

"What do you want to know first?"

"Well, what's Aura?"

"Like I said, Aura's life energy. It lets you see an area without using your sight, and instead using your own Aura to look around. It can also be used to see the Auras of other people, and _that_ can tell you if someone else has the gift of Aura, if they're Psychic, or if they're just normal people. We have our own version, we call it either Psychic Sight or Psych Scan, but it's the same concept as Aura Sight. The main difference is it doesn't tell us if someone's an Aura User. For instance, looking at people, they can have just about any colour in the spectrum, but Psychics always have a pink or lilac colour in there. Apparently," I closed my eyes for a second, looking at both Cobalt and Ash. "Aura Users seem to have a predominantly teal or blue colour for the signature, but I didn't know that until now. Next question?"

"Is there anything else cool you can do with Aura?" Ash looked at Cobalt here, who cleared his throat and frowned, the appendages on the side of his head floating upwards with a slight blue glow before he spoke.

' _ **Indeed.'**_ Ash jumped, and slipped to the floor. I made a Psychic bubble, which stopped him before he hit the ground, and he sat back up shakily.

"That was you, right?"

' _ **Yes.'**_ He smiled. ' _ **Aura, when channeled correctly, can be used as a translator. It's because Aura literally senses emotions, and can be used to let others know how you feel.'**_

"That makes sense actually." I interrupted. "Back with Zane, when he first attacked, we all hesitated."

"I remember." Ash nodded, looking grateful for some semblance of normality returning to the conversation. "I thought you'd just been caught off guard… wait a minute, was it _you_ that healed me, as well as made the shields?"

"Yup. It was because Grace was there that I was able to, since I knew you'd think it was her." I smiled. "Anyway, we actually hesitated because I saw a half formed blue shield form around you, so I thought that would stop it. I was wrong, and I'd like to give a belated apology."

"Apology accepted."

"Continuing with that, I've seen little blue sparks fly off your hands occasionally, mostly when you got angry, like earlier with Lucian and Lucia, and when we finished telling you about us." Ash winced.

"Yeah, about that-"

"Don't apologise for what you said, I won't accept it and neither will the others." Ash froze, as did Pikachu, and both stared at me. "You have absolutely no reason to apologise. What you said was valid. We should have said at the start of our travels, maybe after Mount Moon when we were all together, no matter how awkward it may have been."

"Right." Ash looked uncomfortable, so I steered the conversation back to Aura again.

"Plus, just after that when you left, you corrupted the illusion shield with your Aura 'cause it wasn't controlled."

' _ **So that's the plan.'**_ Cobalt said. ' _ **I believe Alex wants to have me teach you how to use your own Aura.'**_

"That was my idea, yes." I admitted.

"So, I can learn this stuff, and I can use it to understand Pokemon?" Ash said slowly.

"Yep." I nodded, and smiled. "So, what do you say? You in?" Both trainer and Pokemon were quiet for a moment more and looked at each other, as though they were having their own private conversation. Finally, Ash nodded.

"When do we start?"

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 **AN: Well, that went well.**

 **P: I hope you all thought that flowed ok.**

 **T: We've been trying to get the chapters longer to make them slightly less rushed.**

 **P: Another thing is that when we find a good stopping point, we just mark it instead of just straight up stopping, then going to find the next one instead.**

 **SV: Anyway, we're starting to run out of time this chapter, and we'll soon be all done anyway. I mentioned when I updated Guardians that I now have a Twitter, and I'll mention it here.**

 **T: *Cough* Eventhoughnoonereadsthisanddoesn'treadtheothers *cough***

 **SV: What was that Trixie?**

 **T: Nothing. *Whistling innocently.***

 **SV: *Stares suspiciously* Right. Anyway, my Twitter name is ShadowVulpix, Shadow_Vulpix2. Follow me for the updates! Any the shinies I get when I'm bored. Though let's be honest, you followed the stories for reason of knowing when I update. But hey, cool shinies! And maybe I'll ask you guys for nicknames? Eh, whatever. Hope you enjoyed, see you next time!**

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	28. Chapter 28

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 **AN: Hi everyone!**

 **P: Hope you all are ready for this chapter!**

 **T: I think we all remember what went on last time, so let's get started, eh Shadow?**

 **SV: Sure thing! Don't own Pokemon, let's rock!**

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 **Chapter 54.**

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"So then Ash, I'll guess you want a demonstration, am I right?" I asked, standing from the seats I had made.

"Sure." He replied. "If you two wouldn't mind, that is."

' _ **Of course not.'**_ Cobalt smiled at him. ' _ **I feel we owe it to you to see what it is you're getting into.'**_

"Thanks." Ash smiled back at the blue Pokemon, and I focused, psychically moving Ash and Pikachu to the side, along with the chairs.

' _ **It'll be nice to see if you kept up practising during our time away.'**_ Cobalt grinned, moving into position.

"Well, I'm sure I won't be as good as you," I smirked back. "But of course, when you can make your own training ground, it's easy enough to keep up training."

' _ **Naturally. I've done so with Crystal a few times, and we tend to work together, with both her powers and mine.'**_

"Well, let's give Ash a good demo of what's to come, eh?" I grinned again.

' _ **Indeed.'**_ We both stood still for a moment, before a small flicker of Aura from Cobalt gave the signal to begin.

Oh, and begin we did.

Considering the start was two Judgements colliding with an Aura Sphere, knocking us both back and causing us to shield from the outburst of fire it gave off, I'd say we gave quite an impression.

 _Right, think._ I thought, looking at Cobalt. _How does he fight best?_ I threw out a quick Judgement, with the intent of forcing him to block, before forming another one behind, this one typed with electricity, and teleporting it behind the shield. More Aura must have been used, as he felt it coming and moved the shield around. _Right._ I steeled myself, thinking as I used more Judgements to try and distract the Pokemon with years more fighting experience. _Fights best close up, from what I recall. Favours using Aura swords and shielding to keep the other off balance until he can take them out. Also likely to use Force Palm if he gets too close. So, point one, keep him away._ Charging two Rock typed Judgements, I picked two spots, behind and to the left of Cobalt. One teleport took me to the left, where I threw the first Judgement, before teleporting again to throw the second. He whirled around and caught the first one, dodging the second.

' _ **You missed!'**_ He called.

"Good thing that wasn't my intention!" I replied. He had enough time to shoot me a confused glance before the other Judgement exploded, firing a ton of rocks in a wide spread area. _Point two, keep him off balance. Three, he's weak to Fire, Fighting, and Ground, while resisting Rock, Bug, Normal, Dragon, Dark, Steel, Grass, and Ice, as well as being immune to Poison. That's a lot to avoid, and little to use._ I started changing the typing I was using, before stopping. _No use trying the same thing too much._ Instead, I used Psychic to throw him at a tree. I used that time to form two swords, not quite the Sacred Sword rip off I'd used in Zane's mindscape. These were Fighting type Judgements, molded to stay stable in a blade form. I threw them both, one high and one low, before swapping types and doing the same with Ground.

' _ **What the heck?'**_ I heard Pikachu gasp behind me. I grinned viciously; looks like we're putting on a good show. Then again…

' _This is supposed to be a show of your abilities, not mine.'_ I asked my opponent telepathically. ' _Shouldn't you do something?'_

' _ **Who's to say I haven't?'**_ A voice said behind me.

Once again, I had little time to react before I was blown off my feet and into a tree. I quickly pulled together a Psychic bubble and bounced off the tree, but not without a wince. _So that's how you want to play it, huh? Well, I'll play this game._ I closed my eyes, letting a Psychic Scan begin and take over my sight. It's a much safer way to pick out the copies Cobalt left behind. This way, I'd be able to focus more on fighting. So… I picked my spot and teleported. He started swinging behind him before I'd really finished teleporting, so I swung too. The twin fire blades I started creating between teleporting clashed against a Metal Claw, and we stood in a stalemate for a few seconds before I shoved him back, releasing the swords and letting them explode as I backed up quickly. Once the small tornado of fire subsided, Cobalt was panting, looking pretty battered.

' _ **Good job.'**_ He said, then grinned. ' _ **But not good enough.'**_ The red aura of Counter surrounded him as he charged forwards, and I winced.

' _Oh no.'_ I telepathed, before throwing myself forwards and using Hyper Voice in an attempt to stop the Counter attack. It hit Cobalt slightly before the Counter hit me, sending me straight into a tree. I pulled up a cushion behind me, which softened the blow a little bit.

' _ **Are you ok?'**_ Cobalt asked worriedly.

"Ouch." I said quietly, dropping to the floor and sitting up. I glared at the blue and black Pokemon. "That _hurt,_ dammit!"

' _ **You said you wanted a good show.'**_ He smiled, helping me up. ' _ **I was just following instructions.'**_

"Very funny." I deadpanned. ' _I know that wasn't full power.'_ I said telepathically. ' _Why not?'_

' _ **You wanted a good show.'**_ He said, dropping his Aura translations and lowering his voice. ' _ **I wasn't about to hurt you. Not gonna lie, that was a seriously powerful combo. I wasn't sure what Counter would have done at full power.'**_

' _Gee, thanks.'_ I rolled my eyes and grinned. "So, what do you think?" I asked, turning to Ash and supporting myself on Cobalt.

"Ok. What the heck." Ash asked us. "I have no idea what I just watched."

' _ **You just watched Alex fight me and hold her own.'**_ Cobalt replied, using Aura to translate once again.

"Yeah, ok, I want to learn that. When can we start?" I sighed quietly, relieved.

"Well, assuming Cobalt's ok with it, I'm sure we can start now."

' _ **I'm fine. What about you?'**_

"Eh, I'll live. Can't use Heal Pulse on myself, but that's no big loss. If worst comes to worst, I'll teleport back and waste time explaining, while you lot mess around with Aura."

"If you say so." Ash looked worried at the state I was in, but I waved him off.

"Don't worry. I'll heal quick enough, and it's not really damage that was dealt. Most of it's just exhaustion, and that'll pass soon anyway. Just don't expect a teleport back for around half an hour or so."

' _ **Now that that's all out of the way, shall we begin?'**_ Cobalt took a chair from the side and sat down. Ash took his own seat, and I went over to sit next to Pikachu. The blue glow around Ash's hands had died down at some point during the fight, maybe from him realising that we weren't a threat, so Cobalt's first job would be to get that back, hopefully under the will of the wielder, and not just because there was a threat nearby. I settled down, smiling slightly.

' _It's good to see this.'_ I said telepathically. ' _I wouldn't have pegged a bit on this happening when we came to find him earlier.'_

' _ **Neither would I, to be honest.'**_ Pikachu admitted. ' _ **How come you're using telepathy, by the way?'**_

' _Don't feel like talking at the moment.'_ I answered, leaning back. ' _But still, it feels kinda odd. Ash was upset about our powers, then it turns out he has something similar himself.'_

' _ **Though the difference is that he didn't know about his abilities. You did, and still didn't tell him.'**_

' _Yeah.'_ I winced. ' _Bad move on our part, let's hope that doesn't screw us over later on.'_ We both watched in silence for a few minutes as Ash focused on trying to bring his Aura to the surface by himself.

' _ **Think I could learn to do that?'**_ Pikachu asked suddenly.

' _Probably.'_ I replied, observing them both. ' _From what I know, normal Pokemon have rather a lot of natural Aura, since it's what makes your attacks so strong.'_ We both sat quietly again, then I continued. ' _Might be best to wait until Ash is done, though. I don't think Cobalt'll want to be teaching you both at the same time.'_

' _ **Ok. I guess that makes sense.'**_ The silence returned for a third round as we kept watching. A small smile spread across my face as Ash got too frustrated with the fact that he couldn't get any Aura to surface, and started complaining quietly.

' _ **Can it kid.'**_ I heard Cobalt's voice carry over the clearing. ' _ **You need**_ **a lot** _ **of patience here, so get used to it.'**_

"What's the goal again?"

' _ **Get your hand to spark blue. A glow is preferable, but just firing sparks under your own will is good enough for a first attempt.'**_ Cobalt glance over to us, and raised his voice. ' _ **You recharging ok?'**_

' _Sure.'_ I sent back. ' _Give another twenty minutes, and I should be able to teleport us back without passing out from power use.'_

' _ **Good. I'll give you a heads up when we're good to go.'**_ He smiled, then turned back to Ash. ' _ **Now, calm down. Focus on how Aura feels, and ignore emotion for the time being.'**_ As Ash started practising again, Pikachu glanced up at me.

' _ **Well, this journey just got much more exciting.'**_

' _That it did, friend. It did indeed.'_

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 **Chapter 55.**

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It was around a half hour later when my old friend let out an excited gasp. I pulled myself upright, since I'd moved to lie down when I realised we'd likely be here a while, and Pikachu sat up next to me.

' _What is it?'_ I asked.

"Look!" Ash said excitedly. "I did it!"

' _Oh?'_ I stood up, picking Pikachu up as I moved, and ran over. Sure enough, Ash's hand was glowing with the teal blue that had been glowing forty minutes earlier. ' _Cool!'_

' _ **Congrats Ash!'**_ Pikachu cheered.

' _ **Indeed.'**_ Cobalt smiled. ' _ **That was fast, considering the only way you've used it before is when angry or worried.'**_

"Thanks Cobalt. What's now?"

' _ **Well, if Alex doesn't mind, I'd like to see if you can stop and restart it in a few minutes. Practise makes perfect, after all.'**_

' _I don't mind.'_ I assured them. ' _If it'll help Ash get this all down quickly, then go ahead.'_

"Thanks Alex." Ash smiled at me. "Are you going to actually talk though, or just use telepathy?"

' _I-'_ I coughed. "Sorry. I get used to using it sometimes, and it's really helpful for keeping conversations private."

"I'll bet." Ash said, somewhat sourly.

"Sorry." I winced. "I'll try and keep you in the conversations, even if you can't reply."

' _ **Actually,'**_ Cobalt said slowly. ' _ **I**_ **think** _ **there might be a form of telepathy using Aura.'**_

"Really?" Ash perked up.

' _ **Yes. But if so, I don't know how, so it'll take a while to find out how to be able to teach you. Focus on harnessing it for now, and we can worry about the cool stuff later.'**_

"That's pretty much how we learned our stuff too." I agreed. "Though, on our end, learning to control our transformations was priority number one. Size shifting was second, then psychic powers."

"How come?"

"Ash," I deapanned, looking at him. "We can turn into legendary Pokemon, some of which are huge in comparison to most, we get the ability between two and three, and you're asking that question?" He winced.

"Yeah, nevermind, I can see why that's a better idea."

"Well, you get on with your practise. I'm going to go play tennis with myself, so I'll see you in an hour."

' _ **Mind if I join you? Sounds fun.'**_

"Sure, why not. See you later." I teleported out of the clearing with Pikachu, leaving both boys to their practise.

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 ***One hour later.***

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"Do you think we should be getting out of here now?" I asked, batting away a lightning bolt with a small paddle.

' _ **Probably.'**_ Pikachu replied, firing another Thunderbolt to break the other apart. ' _ **Are they done yet?'**_

"Maybe. We'll only find out if we head back." I whacked the other bolt heading for me. "Shall we go then?"

' _ **Alright.'**_ I extinguished the lightning bolts flying around, then motioned to Pikachu.

"Come here then, we'll teleport back to the clearing."

' _ **Are you going to be ok to teleport us all back to the camp?'**_ He asked, climbing to my shoulder. ' _ **I mean, you've just used a fair bit of power on all this.'**_ He motioned around the area we were in with his tail.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I was only drained earlier 'cause I was fighting a vastly more skilled opponent. A couple of teleports are practically nothing on my reserves." One flash later, and we were back in the clearing. Ash jumped when we appeared, and I chuckled. "Forget about us, did you?"

"Sorta, yeah." He smiled. "I got really focused on trying to use Aura, so I kinda blanked out."

' _ **Which is a good method to use, so long as it's not important that you remain focused on whatever the reason is that you're trying to bring it up.'**_

"Thanks Cobalt."

"Mind if I see?" I asked Ash, sitting down.

"Ok." He frowned slightly, staring at his hand. Around thirty seconds later, a small teal light flickered on, growing slowly brighter as we watched. He held it steady for about a minute more, then let it fade as he looked up. "It takes a lot of focus to keep it from fading, and I can't really do anything with it other than that, but…"

"But it's a start." I finished. "And certainly an improvement over earlier today."

"That's true." He smiled.

' _ **Well, if we're all done with demonstrations, we should head back.'**_ Cobalt interrupted. ' _ **Actually, the other's might be getting worried about us, since it's been more than an hour since you were last there.'**_

"Nah, that's ok, I sorted that." I streched. "I sent Bella a message before I left you two alone. I told her to tell the others that we'd be back quite late, so put up some tents and don't wait up for us."

"Cool." Ash grinned. "How come you just told Bella, though? Couldn't you have reached all of them?"

"Since we're in a forest, it's easier to find Bella here. Crystal's more noticeable, but I can't reach her yet. I'm not all that powerful, and neither are the others."

"How come?"

"Bella's hybrid power is plant manipulation. I'm can sort of tap into that power if it's lingering around, so it's easy to reach her."

"Oh." Ash spent a second thinking about that. "How come you told them not to wait up?"

"That way, we don't need to explain about what's gone on until tomorrow." I replied. "I wasn't sure if you'd be ok to talk to them after all this, so I was making sure it was put off until you could."

"Well, I feel fine. Not drained at all." He grinned, then stood. He immediately wobbled, nearly falling over, before Cobalt stood next to him and grabbed his arm, steadying him. "Wooo. Ok. Maybe I'm a little worse off than I thought."

' _ **Yes, you are.'**_ Cobalt rolled his eyes, and looked at me. ' _ **Might want to take the chairs out of here, then we should head back.'**_

"Alright." I psychically picked up the chairs that were behind them, plus the extras on the side from before our fight, before teleporting back to the pocket world to drop them in before leaving again. "Right, let's go." Pikachu jumped up to Ash's shoulder, and I smiled at the small group before a pink flash took us back to camp.

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' _Now keep quiet. The others should be asleep.'_ I warned telepathically. Ash nodded, then wobbled again, Pikachu jumping down.

' _ **I think you should go straight to sleep now.'**_ Cobalt told him quietly. ' _ **I think we might have done too much with Aura, all things considered.'**_

"What do you mean?" Ash yawned.

' _ **You aren't used to using them, for obvious reasons.'**_ He explained. ' _ **Now go on. If you want to keep practising, we can do a bit more tomorrow, so long as no one minds.'**_

"Ok." Ash stumbled into his own tent, which luckily was near where I'd placed us. Pikachu followed him in, and I smiled.

' _This has been one hell of a day.'_

' _ **I'll bet.'**_ Cobalt nodded. ' _ **You started this with a Team Rocket attack, and ended it with Ash learning about Aura and hybrids.'**_

' _Yeah.'_ I replied. ' _How'd you know about Team Rocket?'_

' _ **Crystal said when you left to find Ash.'**_

' _Right. Well, goodnight.'_ I held up the Pokeball and returned him, then placed the Pokeball inside Crystal's tent. I went into mine, and saw Spark and Ky curled up on my pillow. I giggled quietly at the scene, moving them psychically before lying down myself. ' _Goodnight all.'_ I broadcast quietly.

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 **Chapter 56.**

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Stretching as I awoke, I grinned as the events of last night caught up with me. The next thing to catch up with me was the realisation that I was currently in my other form, at around two feet tall again.

 _Huh._ I thought, looking back at myself. _I guess it's been awhile since I felt safe enough to transform in my sleep._ I swapped back, and poked my Pokemon awake.

"Rise and shine you two." Both Pokemon yawned, blinking sleep out of their eyes and looking up at me.

' _ **Morning Alex.'**_ Spark jumped up into my arms. ' _ **What happened yesterday?'**_

' _ **Good question.'**_ Ky added, curling around me. ' _ **All we know from after you left with Cobalt is that you told Bella to tell us not to wait up.'**_

"Can you guys wait like, an hour for the answer?" I asked. "I'm still a little tired, and Ash isn't going to be awake any time soon, so wait for the others and him to get up, then we can explain."

' _ **Ok.'**_

"Hey, did Bella get around to looking at the book Mimik found?" I questioned.

' _ **Actually, no.'**_ Spark replied. ' _ **I think she's putting it off.'**_

"And for good reason." I sighed. "Well, come on, let's get up. And remember, leave Ash alone for a while."

' _ **Sure.'**_ Ky grinned. ' _ **What about the others?'**_

"If they aren't awake, I'd say leave them be." I picked up a book from my bag and went out, only to run into Bella. "Oh, hi Bel."

"Morning." She smiled. "What was that message about?"

"These two just asked that. When Ash gets up, we'll explain then."

"Ok, fair enough." She shrugged. "I'm going for a bit of a fly around. See you later." She glowed white and transformed, flying away. I laughed quietly.

' _See you later.'_ I sat down and flicked through the book I'd bought, waiting for the others to get up.

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It wasn't much more than ten minutes before both Amy and Crystal woke up.

"Morning you too." I called. "How's things?"

"Fine thanks." Amy yawned. "How about you?"

"I'm great. Still a little tired from yesterday, but I'll be fine."

"That's good. Anyone else up?" Crystal asked.

"Us three and Bella. Bel's off somewhere."

"Ok." Crystal grinned. "Shall I wake the boys?" I shook my head.

"Just Leo. Ash needs the rest after yesterday. Also, mind if I talk to Cobalt again?"

"Sure." She threw me the Pokeball I had put away last night and walked over to Leo's tent. I opened the ball I held.

"Morning Cobalt."

' _ **Good morning Alex.'**_ He bowed slightly to me. ' _ **How are you this morning cousin?'**_

"I'm fine. Still a bit sore from the demonstration, but it'll pass."

' _ **Indeed. I'll admit, you pack quite the punch.'**_

"So does your Counter." I winced. "I think I've got a bruise on my back from hitting the tree."

' _ **You did that twice, if I recall correctly.'**_

"You do." I rolled my eyes. "How about your Aura? Reserves up ok?"

' _ **Aura replenishes rather faster than you might heal from all of that.'**_ He laughed.

"I suppose." I chuckled along with him.

"What's so funny?" Leo asked, walking over from his tent with Crystal in tow.

"Something something I got punched. A lot." I summed up.

"What?" All three asked.

"Shorthand version is that I got punched. The long version is getting put off until Ash wakes himself up."

"Right." Leo blinked.

"You know Alex, when you came back last night to borrow Cobalt, I was confused. Now, I'm really confused." Crystal told me.

"Good, that was the aim." I deadpanned, then turned to Cobalt. "Any idea when it's ok to wake him up?"

' _ **I'd say leave him to get himself up, but if it gets too close to noon, you may want to get him.'**_ He replied.

"Wow. He'll really sleep for that long?"

' _ **Probably. It depends on a multitude of factors, but that's my guess.'**_

"Right. Well, I'm going to start cooking. Hopefully Bella gets back and Ash wakes up soon, then you three can start making sense again." Crystal waved, going to get set up.

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 ***One and a half hours later.***

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I glanced up at Ash's tent from my book for the fourth time in the last twenty minutes.

' _ **Alex, calm down.'**_ Cobalt sighed. ' _ **He'll be up soon.'**_

"I know, I know." I sighed as well. "It's just… I'm still a little worried, that's all. He reacted really badly when we told him yesterday, and with this new extra…" I trailed off, unsure of what to say.

' _ **You're worried about him being more angry after he's had time to let it settle in, and you're afraid of what he might do.'**_ Cobalt said bluntly.

"Sort of." I admitted. "It's more that I'm afraid of how he'll react. If he reacts really badly, he might blow up again, and since we spent most of last night teaching him, I'm worried that if he does blow up, it'll be worse."

' _ **I guess I see your point.'**_ He nodded. ' _ **Don't worry, I'm sure it'll turn out fine.'**_

"Speaking of which, should I wake him up yet?" I nodded towards the tent. "I mean, Bella got back half an hour ago." We looked over for a second, watching Bella repeatedly grow a small vine.

' _ **I guess you might as well.'**_ He agreed. ' _ **Go ahead.'**_ I rolled my eyes, put my book down and walked over. I looked in and giggled.

"Hey guys, wake up."

"Five more minutes." Ash groaned, rolling over with Pikachu in his arms. I giggled again, before transforming and flying over.

' _Come on Ash, time to get up.'_ I said telepathically, nudging him.

"Don't wanna." He complained, but opened his eyes. He caught sight of me, floating a little off to the side, and jumped, looking ready to call out for Pikachu to attack, then relaxed. "Sorry."

' _No problem. I expected that, to be honest.'_

"So… what happened yesterday _wasn't_ a crazy dream?" He checked.

' _Nope. Go on, try Aura.'_ I told him. He looked down at his hand for a moment, frowning, and the small teal light danced across his hand like a flame before disappearing. Ash grinned.

"Good. I'm glad."

' _How come?'_ I asked, curious.

"Well, I've got this now." He nodded back down to his hand. "And it means that you guys are, well, that." He gestured to my current form.

' _I can swap back if you'd like.'_ I said, landing ready, but he shook his head.

"No, it's ok." He smiled. "Honestly, seeing that is probably the most believable thing about this entire situation."

' _What do you mean? How are five legendary Pokemon more believable than Aura?'_

"It's because it makes some of the weird things you all did make a little sense. Like those times when Pikachu would suddenly cut off what he was saying, or Bella's super accurate predictions. Me having this, it kinda came completely out of the blue." He chuckled quietly at his accidental joke, and I joined him. "But anyway, it felt like there wasn't anything for it. It just sorta happened, and there wasn't really anything that could show I had it before now, aside from a few tiny things that I missed."

' _I guess.'_

"Say, how long's Pikachu known?"

' _Since Vermillion. He spotted us when we first went flying, so I had to explain.'_

"Right." Ash grinned. "I'll be out in a bit."

' _See you then.'_ I flew outside and re transformed. Pikachu followed me out, yawning. "How long have you been awake?"

' _ **Woke up when you scared Ash awake.'**_ He grinned. ' _ **Thought I'd let you guys talk first.'**_

"Well, thanks. Come on, let's go to the others." Cobalt sat up as we approached.

' _ **Ash ok?'**_

"Yeah, aside from thinking that yesterday was a dream at first."

' _ **Really?'**_

"Yup. He was all ready to attack me at first, before he remembered."

' _ **Huh.'**_

' _ **Ok, what're you guys talking about?'**_ Spark demanded. ' _ **What did you all do that we don't know about?'**_

"Give Ash a few minutes to get out, then we'll talk."

"No need, we'll do it now." He said, walking over.

' _ **Good!'**_ Spark exclaimed, running to the others. ' _ **Hey guys! Ash's up!'**_

"Come on, we should go." I told him. ' _Ready?'_

"As I'll ever be." He muttered in response. I sat down, and Ash sat next to me. Crystal floated some more chairs over, and the others sat down too.

"Ok, spill." Amy told us. "What happened?"

"Well, first Ash had a small hissy fit when I tried to talk to him, 'cause at first he didn't believe me when I said he'd understood Pikachu."

"Yeah, that was because you all had told me so much crazy stuff already, that I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth, or lying to make me feel better, since I didn't understand Pikachu when he spoke after."

"Yeah, sure, then Alex came back for Cobalt." Crystal continued. "What I want to know is _why_." Ash took a small, steadying breath, and I sent him a comforting smile before replying.

"Assuming it works under pressure, Ash'll show you." The other four plus two Pokemon redirected their attention to Ash, who flinched before taking another breath. ' _Don't panic. It's time to show off and make_ them _be the jealous ones.'_ I told him.

"Thanks Alex." He replied quietly, before raising his hand and frowning again. It formed a lot slower than it had this morning, but after about a minute of focusing, a teal blue fire was dancing across his hand once again. He kept it going for about a minute more, before dropping it with a sigh.

' _You ok?'_ I asked, concerned that he'd not had his full power reserves.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." He smiled wanly at me, which grew a little more real when he looked at the other six. "That. That's why."

"What _was_ that?" Amy asked. "I've seen it before, I _know_ I have, but I _can't think where_."

' _ **Maybe this will jog your memory.'**_ Cobalt said from the side, translating his voice for Ash's benefit. He raised his paw, and his own Aura danced across it in a bright blue fire, much faster than Ash's own. Everyone's jaws dropped.

"You can use _Aura_?!" Bella gasped.

"How long had you known?" Leo asked.

"Like we said, we only found out yesterday." Ash said. "Turns out that when I got annoyed, it ran wild and could corrupt Psychic shields. Did it to Alex by accident, and she said I partly did it to the illusion shield."

"So _that's_ what the red was." Amy realised.

"Yeah. I came back to borrow Cobalt in order to give him some training. That's why he slept so much."

' _ **Using Aura is ridiculously draining at first, even for Lucario. It's even worse for human Aura Adepts, since Pokemon are inherently good at using Aura, because we use it to make attacks stronger, along with being made for battle. Humans are more fragile, no offense, so it takes a lot more to get them good at using it for long periods of time without passing out.'**_

"Hang on a sec." Ash interrupted. "How come you guys are so surprised? Can't you do this too? You _are_ part Pokemon, after all."

"While it's true that Pokemon can use it well, we can't. Aura and Psychic don't mix properly, and since we've got so much Psychic power, we have seriously negligible amounts of Aura to use and counteract that." I explained. "Sacred Sword is an Aura construct, as is Aura Sphere, but we use Fighting type Judgement engineered to not explode into a ton of mini Judgements on contact."

"Huh." Ash said. "Well, I've been learning a lot these past few days." Crystal chuckled.

"Well, would you look at that. We come out about our powers, and the resulting hissy fit unlocked your own."

"I guess that is pretty ironic." Amy agreed.

' _You ok Ash? You look a little faint.'_ I asked him telepathically.

"Yeah, I should be fine." He replied quietly. "Might want to postpone extra Aura training 'till later."

' _ **Try Heal Pulse.'**_ Cobalt suggested. ' _ **Not sure how it'll work, but I do know that it's mostly fatigue, not Aura loss. If you were drained, I could help with that, but it looks more to me like it's just that you're tired from yesterday.'**_

"And you have a great excuse for that." I grinned, glancing at my family on the other side of the table.

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After a small argument occurred, mostly started from a comment from Crystal, we packed everything away.

' _ **Oh, and if you don't mind, can we stay here for a while longer?'**_ Cobalt asked. ' _ **I'd like to get Ash a little more used to Aura before we leave.'**_ The others looked at each other, then Bella shrugged.

"Shouldn't be a problem. Might not want to go more than three days though, if you really want to do a lot, since you three need to get the fifth gym badge."

' _ **Right. Ash, ready to try again?'**_

"As I'll ever be." He sighed.

"Well, I'll be reading if you need me." I said.

"I'll join you on that." Bella added. The remaining three traded glances.

"Tennis?"

"Sure." Leo sighed.

"I'll assume you want Judgements, don't you."

"Of course little bro!" Amy giggled. "Where's the fun without a challenge?"

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 ***One hour later.***

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I put down my book, finished, and looked at the others in the group. Ash and Cobalt were still working, and from what I could see had made very little progress, though for them it may well have been a lot. Amy, Leo and Crystal had disappeared for around ten minutes ago, and were now walking back into the clearing with several ice shards everywhere. Spark, Pikachu and Ky were mucking around with electricity, and Bella was still reading next to me. I sighed lightly.

"What's up Alex?" Bella asked, sitting up.

"Don't you think we should start on that book Mimik found?" I asked.

"I guess we should, it's just…" She shrank down. "The book and paper were obviously from Lucia and Lucian, and I don't really want to read them."

"You don't want to know what sort of things they did." I corrected.

"Well, yes." She shrugged. "But I also want to know _why_ they were dropped." At my surprised glance, she elaborated. "It's obvious they were dropped on purpose, otherwise one of them would have come back. They're both hybrids too, and that book must have been something important since Lucian was carrying it. But I'm worried it was done on purpose to lead us into a trap."

"Well, we'll never know unless we read it through." I smiled. "Come on, let's get started."

"I guess." Bella sighed, then took the book and page out of her bag. "What first?"

"The paper, I'd say. It might give us some insight on how to prepare."

"Alright. Here goes." She opened the page and spread it between us. We both froze, and neither of us moved until we finished reading the scrawled text.

"Holy Arceus in the Hall." I gasped. Bella looked up at me.

"What do you or Leo have to do with this, and how much did you pay them?"

"Not the time Bel." I snapped, before raising my voice. "Folks! Emergency meeting, right now!" ' _Hybrid level emergency!'_ I added telepathically. Amy, Leo, and Crystal dropped all pretence of hiding abilities and teleported straight over, the Pikachu and Ky dropped everything and rocketed over to us with Quick Attack and Extreme Speed, and Cobalt appeared at my side so fast I could swear he'd teleported. Ash had jumped to his feet, but was hovering where the two had been practising, unsure of what to do. "You too Ash. You're as much a part of this as any of us." He walked over and sat by me, smiling gratefully.

"Thanks." He whispered.

' _I wouldn't cut you out. Not after the rest of the mistakes we've made.'_ I told him.

"Right." Leo started after everyone sat down. "What happened to make _that_ a reaction?"

"We decided we were going to read the book Lucian dropped." Everyone flinched, and the other hybrids deflated. I continued. "We picked up the paper first, to see if it said anything important."

"What we did get, was this." Bella cleared her throat and started reading. "' _For Amy, Bella, Crystal, Leo and Alex. If you're reading this, then one of two things have happened. Either you've been recruited into Team Rocket, which seems unlikely, or we've just had our first encounter with you all since we joined, and it went badly. We would both like to apologize no matter what the situation is, and hope you understand. I'd also like to say that if you still want to kill us for everything after we explain, we understand why. Some of the things we've had to do were horrible, and we now wish to apologize again, for what little it means._

 _First, we should say how we ended up in Team Rocket. It's quite simple; we joined to spy. We'd heard of an elite section of Team Rocket, higher than Giovanni, the boss, though we take orders from him to keep with appearances. We joined up, and were interviewed by a girl named Robyn. She noticed we were hybrids straight away, and lead us to a hidden room. This was fairly unsettling, since we were in the base of a huge criminal organisation, but the next room was even more so. Five more members with the Rocket Elite symbol were sitting there, and demanded an explanation from Robyn as to what was going on. It turns out that these six were also hybrids, though we never got their real names. Each member had code names that matched with their forms; Robyn was Flare, then there was a set of three boys, triplets, that were Wrath, Cross and Oblivion, Robyn's twin brother Bolt and her younger brother Freeze. If we meet again and you don't kill us, we'll show you each of them telepathically. We introduced ourselves and our forms, which got us the names Soul and Heart for our empathic abilities. One truck load of lying later, and we were in._

 _The year after, we started on big missions. We were together more often than not, since we matched up so well, and went on a lot of missions. After we stole away a pair of Bulbasaur and an Eevee, I asked my Treecko to free as many as he could. We only got the shiny Bulbasaur before he had to run, so we did what we could to get him somewhere safe. I'll have to explain what happened to the others later, but if we're lucky, we managed to get them to you somehow and can help fix what we helped screw up._

 _Finally, the Shadows. When we meet, we'll try and drop some hints in case you don't bother to read this, but here's the details. The Shadow's are Shadow Pokemon. The other's found out how to create them in Orre, where they appeared again most recently. We took a small trip to find some stuff out too. I've no doubt Bella'll find something in the Library about them, so we'll leave that out, but we can say about purification. Friendship, music and being surrounded by Pokemon all seem to help purify it, but the last bit may be a problem. To fully reverse what was done, you need a Relic Stone, the only one of which is in Agate Village in Orre. There may be other ways, but we can't find anything._

 _Giovanni seems to know about hybrids, and since he directs us formally, I'd say he has one big part in something. We don't know what the others are planning, but we'll try and send a message as soon as we get wind. Say sorry to Melody for us, and that we'll visit as soon as all this mess gets sorted out and Team Rocket is long gone. For Crystal, sorry for not being able to say anything when we last saw you, and I hope this doesn't damage our friendship in any way. Hopefully we'll be able to speak again._

 _Lucia.'_ " Bella finished reading and coughed. Silently, Amy handed her a glass, which she gladly took a sip of.

"That's all Lucia wrote." I put in. "However, it seems Lucian had gotten very good at light manipulation since we last met. From the point the battle started onwards until the paper dropped, he was elsewhere, and added something." I took the page from Bella and read the end. "' _Hey guys, sorry we can't chat, need to keep up the appearance. Say sorry to your Ivysaur, Alex, and pass the same for the other Ivysaur and Eevee when you fix them. Same applies to Crystal as Lucia said. And I really hope your human friend know's about us, 'cause otherwise, he does now. Sorry for any havoc. Lucian.'_ "

"And so, that puts us in a predicament." Bella finished. "On one hand, it could be a trap. On the other, they're empaths, so they're likely to be sincere. Only issue is, what do we do?"

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 **AN: Long chapter! And cliffhanger!**

 **P: Like we've said, we're trying to make some of these longer.**

 **T: Also, New Beginnings is starting to hit the end.**

 **SV: Well, end of the first arc at least.**

 **P: But we're just getting to the good bits!**

 **SV: That's the plan. When this draws to an end, we'll be back to focusing on Child of Mew and some of Guardians of Power for a bit while I work, then back to three stories on upload. See you all next time!**

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	29. Chapter 29

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 **AN: Hey folks!**

 **P: Welcome back! Guess what day it is?**

 **T: It's the one year anniversary of New Beginnings!**

 **SV: We were hoping to get the last chapter up today, but this** _ **technically**_ **is the last chapter.**

 **T: Not really, but it's the last with any advancement. The next chapter's both pretty short, and doesn't really go anywhere.**

 **P: So, for all intents and purposes, we're calling that one the epilogue and this one the final chapter.**

 **SV: We don't own Pokemon, so go enjoy the super length chapter!**

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 **Chapter 57.**

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We all traded glances, weighing what few options we had.

"This could be a trap." Crystal said, the ever cautious one of our group.

"That's what we thought." I agreed.

"On the other hand, they're empaths. They _have_ to know what they're doing is wrong, and that it hurts others. How could they be sincere?" Bella questioned.

"How could they handle faking it, if they know what they're doing is wrong?" Amy countered.

"And I just don't know." Leo sighed. "On one hand, it's hard to think that they're seriously evil, because of their empathy. On the other, they could truly be bad, and are using the fact that they're empathic to try and trick us into a trap."

"Question?" Ash said, raising his hand. "Yesterday, didn't you say you all had powers? Couldn't we try those?"

"Well, Bella and Crystal's are gonna work, since they're manipulation of the area. Mine and Leo's _could_ , but it'd be hard to keep them in one place to activate them."

"What about Amy? I know you listed what each of you could do, but I don't remember hers."

"Mine's…" She trailed off, then jumped up. "Ash, you're a _genius!_ "

"I am?" He looked at her, mirroring the confused looks we all held.

"Yes!" She glanced at us all. "My ability's copying the ones of others! If I can get near them…"

"You could tell if they were sincere about it!" Bella finished, eyes lighting up.

"Though once again, the issue is finding them and getting the ability copied." I deadpanned, rolling my eyes.

"Well, it's a start." Leo sighed again. "I don't think I can get anything done for a while."

"How about we just head to Saffron?" Ash suggested. "We could do the gym there, and maybe you three," He paused, motioning to Bella, Amy and Crystal. "Could make a strategy while we battle."

"Are you sure?" Crystal asked. "We stopped to let you get some more Aura practise in."

"To be honest, I don't think I could do any more today. The entire practise for learning is to empty out emotions, and after all this, I'm not sure I'll be able to. And I can always keep practising on the road."

' _ **Well, that's up to you.'**_ Cobalt decided, after a moment's silence. ' _ **We'll do our best to get you up and rolling, but you do have other things to learn as well.'**_

"Then it's decided." Amy clapped, her bubbly mood already reinflating. "Ash, move out of the way, we'll start packing up." The four Pokemon and Ash moved to the side, and I followed.

"Say, Alex. How many hybrids have we actually met?" He asked as we watched the group of tents, chairs, and tables float around our thankfully sheltered clearing.

"Well, you already know Lucia and Lucian. They're a Latias and a Latios. Then, well," I glanced at him. "Remember the two young Lugia we saw after the boat sunk?"

"They were hybrids?" Ash said. "Was that why I couldn't scan them?"

"Partly because of the human DNA, but also what we said was true. They're legendaries, so the Pokedex wouldn't have told you anything anyway. Though, I'll let you guess who they are." He was silent for a few minutes, watching the camping equipment float around, before he guessed.

"Would that have been Lillian and Lucas, then?"

"Yep. Then the last one you've met is Diana. Edward might be as well, but we never found out for sure."

"Huh. So is Diana's form a Ditto, then?"

"Yeah. We don't know if Edward was a Ditto hybrid too, or if he was like we've done with Mimik, and learned to talk. I _do_ know that she only met him once she got to Hoenn after we had the Squirtle Squad incident, and that's a short amount of time to learn to speak English so fluently, and have a designed form, so I think he's a hybrid too."

"Neat. Wish I could be a hybrid. It sounds fun." He said wistfully.

"It isn't." I replied shortly. "Trust me, trying to hide that sort of secret, even from people you've known forever, just because you don't know how they'd react if you told them they weren't exactly human, isn't fun. Some of us get away with Psychic powers, saying that they're Psychic themselves, can be a good cover, but with others the situation can be just as bad. So trust me Ash, and relish your humanity. 'Cause you might not have it long." I sighed, before walking over to the others as they finished packing. "Come on, let's go."

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

We had walked for half an hour in the more heavily wooded areas before I dropped back to talk to Ash again.

"Hi." Ash said quietly.

"Hey." I replied, just as quietly. "Sorry about exploding earlier."

"No, it's ok. I shouldn't dwell on dreams that others are living through, I suppose." I stared at him.

"Who are you, and what've you done with our Ash?" He chuckled.

"I guess I just felt that needed to be said." We both grinned, before Ash tripped over a tree root. "Ouch! Arceus dammit!"

"Hey, we didn't do anything." I joked automatically, then lifted him up with Psychic. "You ok?"

"Yeah. How come you did that, though?" He asked.

"Did what?" I inquired.

"The 'I didn't do anything' thing. What's the reason for that?" I looked at him, confused, for a minute before realising.

"That's right, we never got around to introducing our forms, since you were freaking out."

"Right. Mind doing it now?"

"Of course not." I pulsed out a quick scan before continuing, pointing at each of my family in turn. "You already know, but Amy's a Mew. Did you know that from what she said, or from before?"

"What she said. I knew what a Mew was, obviously, but I'd never seen one, again for obvious reasons."

"Ok. Next is Bella. She's what's called a Celebi. Celebi are Grass and Psychic types, and are mostly known as time travellers. They tend to frequent the forests of peaceful times, and prefer to use their time travel abilities to escape conflict." I then pointed at Crystal. "Crystal's an Articuno. They're birds of ice and snow, which is the reason behind Crystal's ice powers, are Ice and Flying type, and they're supposed to leave ice and snow wherever they fly."

"Ok, but that still doesn't explain the Arceus joke." Ash interrupted.

"I'm getting to that." I rolled my eyes, then gestured to Leo and myself. "We're both Arceus."

"Seriously?" He gasped.

"Yup." I shifted, and floated around his head. ' _We're just awesome like that. Anyway, Arceus is a Normal type, but can shift types using one of seventeen Plates. This also changes the type of our signature move, Judgement, which I think you saw during my battle with Cobalt.'_ I landed and swapped back in a single movement, then continued my explanation as we walked. "We don't actually use the Plates for our type changes, though. A fair few Pokemon can change forms, and those who are hybrids can do so as well. However, we do it willingly, without the item or move needed."

"What'd you mean?"

"Well, as I said, we Arceus hybrids don't use a Plate. Then Shaymin can go from Land to Sky forme with a Gracidea flower, or Meloetta, who uses the move Relic Song to change from Aria to Pirouette form." I told him. "There's others, but those are some of them."

"Right." We walked in silence for a while, watching the Pokemon jumping around the trees around us. "Say, here's a thought. How does Crystal have Psychic powers? She's not a Psychic type in her other form."

"We don't know." I shrugged. "Any hybrid has the same thing with Psychic power, but no one knows how it works."

"Hey guys!" Amy shouted back. "Hurry up, we're almost there!"

"Already?" Ash asked, surprised.

"Apparently." I grinned. "Say, up for a quick trip?"

"What do you-?" Ash started, before I grabbed his arm and teleported us forwards. "Whoa!"

"And here I though Amy was the silly one." Leo shook his head, grinning too.

"Be quiet little bro." I scowled at him, before turning back to Ash. "All silliness aside, are you ok?"

"Yeah, sure. Just, a little warning next time? Being dragged through a Psychic field that fast isn't fun when it's a surprise."

"Sure. Sorry. I thought it'd be a fun way to catch up."

' _ **I thought it was cool.'**_ Pikachu said, jumping out of the tree and landing on Ash's head. ' _ **Just remember me next time!'**_ A telepathic translation had Ash sighing.

"That's great and all, but can you get off my head now?" I chuckled, then used a small Psychic to catch my own Pokemon.

"And you two aren't pulling the same trick on me." I laughed, bringing them around to face me.

' _ **Awwww!'**_ Spark pouted. ' _ **It was a good plan too!'**_

' _ **We all knew it wouldn't work on Alex.'**_ Kydyur told her. ' _ **But you wanted to try anyway.'**_

"Right, enough random arguing." Bella instructed. "We'll be in Saffron just past these trees. Might want to lower your psychic senses."

"Why?" I asked, running past the trees. I passed through an almost transparent lilac field, not realising in my hurry until a few seconds later, when I stumbled over as the full force of psychic energy hit me like a small truck.

"That." Bella said simply. Each of the others passed through with minor wobbles in their paths, and Ash walked straight on with no interruptions. "This city has tons of Psychic power floating around, and if you aren't careful on how much power you're picking up, you'll probably knock yourself out from over gain." Ash looked confused, so I elaborated for him as I lowered my own gain.

"That's when we pick up too much psychic power from one area. Despite what you might be thinking, it doesn't restore our own power, but it tends to make us a bit disorientated, even with really low senses." I stood up with a small wobble and looked around. "Still, this looks like a city I'd like to fly around for a while. It looks like a maze on the ground." There wasn't much I could see at the moment, since most of the landscape was blocked out by buildings, but the skyscrapers were extremely impressive. Numerous neon lights were on some of the buildings, though in the daylight, very few of them were turned on. Some of the hundreds of lights dotted along the roadside were though, but the soft yellow light barely changed anything. One extremely tall building caught my eye, and I recognised it as the Silph Co. building. I pointed it out, and Amy sighed.

"Oh yeah. That place. Trust me, you _do not_ want to go in there. We went on the tour when we got here last year, after we'd recovered from the super overload we'd got when we walked in. It's really boring, you only see the first two levels, since the rest are employees only, and the only things there are a collection of Pokeballs, some weird machine that let's you see ghosts, which isn't of any interest to us 'cause we don't need it, and a few Pokegears. Trust me, it sucks."

"Oh come on. It can't be _that_ bad, right?" Leo asked, looking at Bella. She shook her head.

"No, it really is that bad. Two floors, Pokeballs, Pokegears and a ghost scope. That's it. There's rumors of a Master ball being made there, but you're not going to see it." A glance at Crystal showed she was nodding along too.

"Well, what time is it?" I asked, changing the subject. "Do you think we can get the gym battle in today, or do we tour the city then do it tomorrow?"

"Well, it's about one." Crystal said. "I don't mind doing a tour, but we should try and get some more training in. It'll likely be a two on two battle, so we should pick your teams after."

"Hey, we aren't doing much more, so we may as well." Amy agreed. "Let's go."

"To be honest, there isn't much to see. But I don't have a problem walking round the city for a bit." Bella said. "We'll take the scenic route to the Pokemon Centre, though we'll have to leave after we get our rooms."

' _Yeah, don't want to irritate Sabrina by making a huge Psychic boom in the middle of the city when we teleport.'_ Crystal said telepathically, making sure to include Ash.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

' _City's leader's a Psychic using Psychic Pokemon, and a lot of Psychics are born and learn to use their powers here.'_ Amy said.

"Cool. Did you learn here?"

"Nah, we learned at home." Leo replied aloud. "Mom and Dad taught us. It would've been kinda hard for us to have learned here, because we'd sometimes swap if we got frustrated."

"Huh. Sounds like that was fun."

"Nope." I said easily. "Apparently, it was entertaining though."

"Especially you two." Bella grinned mockingly. "Both of them were late bloomers, and they got frustrated really fast when they finally did get their psychic power."

"Ok!" I broke in as Amy burst into giggles. "Enough about us and being psychic, let's move on!"

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

Just as the others had said, there wasn't much to see in the huge Psychic city. The huge surrounding buildings looked cool, but there wasn't really any major attractions to the area aside from the shops, which none of us wanted to go in, and Silph Co., which looked as boring as Amy had said it was. Eventually, Ash got bored of just wandering around, so we went to the centre to grab rooms and some food.

"So, what now?" Ash asked once we'd all sat down.

"Well, the three of you need to do some training." Amy said, pointing at him, myself and Leo. "So, we can split up again, or we can have one big world to train in."

"I'd say one big world." I put in. "We could do some other stuff as well as training the team."

"What do you have in mind?" Leo asked.

"Well, we can get Ash used to using Aura in a psychic zone where an explosion _won't_ be devastating, and I need to work of fighting again, so hopefully I can do sword fighting with Crystal."

"I don't mind." She said.

"Also, if Bella doesn't object, she could try and practise her terrain manipulation while we fight."

"And us?" Amy asked, gesturing to herself and Leo.

"No idea." I admitted. "But I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"Where are you guys talking about?" Ash questioned.

"Two words, bud. Mew. Games." Amy grinned.

"That thing Grace made?"

"Yup. Didn't you wonder where we got the ability to do that?" Bella grinned foxily. "We learned how to do it, then taught her when she got more powerful."

"Huh. I guess I should've thought of that one myself, all things considering." Ash said.

"Well, we _have_ been dropping a lot on you these last couple of days, so I think you can be excused for not figuring that out yourself." I smiled. "But anyway, that's the plan?"

"Sure, why not." Bella shrugged. "I haven't had the chance to mess around in one properly for ages, so it'll be fun."

"Well, let's finish up here and get moving." Crystal said. "It'll be fun to get a good fight with you again."

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 ***A half hour later.***

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The six of us, plus three Pokemon, stood together in a small clearing just outside Saffron City.

"Ready to go?" Leo asked.

"Yep." Amy replied, grinning. "Everything's set up ready, so we just need to go."

"Well, I don't see any reason to wait any longer." Bella said. "Get the teleport ready to go."

' _By the way Ash, this feels a little weird the first time.'_ I said telepathically. ' _Just a heads up for you, since I wasn't sure if you'd be ok.'_ He didn't reply, but nodded in response when I caught his eye.

"Everyone all together now, then we'll head out!" Amy called.

"Amy, you know as well as I do that we don't need to be that close to teleport us." Bella sighed. "Just get on with it!"

"Ok." She flashed pink, and a few seconds later we popped back into existence in another clearing, this one ringed with a thin line of trees before mountains became the most prominent thing around. Ash blinked rapidly for a few seconds, then shook his head.

"Man, that felt _weird_." He looked around. "Cool place though."

"Thanks!" Amy said brightly. "It's modeled after a cool place near home. I liked flying there when I was younger."

"Didn't you make a club house up there?" I asked.

"Yup! And it's still there too!"

"Huh." Leo blinked. "I'd've thought it'd be gone by now."

"Well, it was pretty well hidden." Crystal argued. "Maybe when the league is over we should take some time to visit."

"What're you talking about now?"

"Amy made a little house in the mountains one time, and we used to stay up there for a few days at a time, usually with one of the others or the older Pokemon."

"Dang, every time I thought I'd heard everything interesting, you come out with something new." He shook his head.

"Well, let's get a move on for now." Leo said.

"Won't we need to explain where we are?"

"We can at least put off the hybrid conversation for a while. Just go with Grace. You've only had three new members since the last time we tried this, and you don't need to have our whole teams out either." Bella said, releasing Grace.

' _What's up Bella?'_ She broadcast.

"We're in one of the worlds, so for the sake of Ash's Pokemon we're pretending it's you making it again."

' _Sure. That's not a problem.'_ She replied.

"Right. So, who do you three plan on using?" Crystal asked.

"Well, I'm using Wildfire and Zephyr." Leo said. "I'd like to work with Leaf and Zimmy, but they won't do the best. Rema's not the strongest and while that speed could be helpful, we need power as well. Umiko's just had a battle, and while I'd love to use Koray for this, he's a little too powerful."

"I'm using Tele and Jade. Ky's too powerful as well, Spark gets a fair bit of time as is, Mimik's too inexperienced, and that can't be fixed in one sitting. Joey and Deku have both had some powerful battles recently, and while Star could be good, I don't think this battle is quite right for her."

"By the way, shouldn't you talk to Deku about everything that happened after the battle?" Amy asked. "I mean, it seemed to hit him pretty hard."

"I'll do that after we finish up." I decided, after a few moments thought. "I do need to do it, and while I'd rather it were sooner over later, training needs to be done too."

"Right. What about you Ash? Who're you using?" Crystal asked.

"Lunar and Blitz." We all turned to look at him. "What? I haven't been using Lunar much, and that last gym wasn't much of a challenge to Blitz. Sting and Shmurda have a disadvantage, Zack's really young, Skye… Well, I haven't used Skye much either, but the gym's enclosed, so it'd be hard for her to fight."

' _ **And me?'**_ Pikachu asked from the side.

"You're not the best choice either, since you aren't a great balance between speed and power, no offence, and you also get a lot of time in the spotlight as is."

"So, let's get to work." Amy grinned, and the rest of us traded glances before Leo, Ash and myself sent out the Pokemon we'd chosen.

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 ***Two hours of crazy later.***

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"Ok, I think that's it for today." I said, glancing over the teams. "We'll leave the gym battle for tomorrow."

' _ **Sounds great!'**_ Jade said happily from her perch on Tele's head. ' _ **I need a rest after all that.'**_

"Well, come on back." I replied, returning them. I heard the others do the same across the clearing, and ran to join them. Leo teleported back, while Crystal and Amy flew.

"So that's all done. Ready to go Alex?" Crystal said as she transformed back, an almost feral grin on her face.

"Sure I am!" I replied, a matching grin appearing. "Get Cobalt out for Ash, then we'll get started."

"Calm down you two." Bella sighed. "On the other side of the clearing, I hope?"

"Of course." We both chorused, seconds before Crystal threw Ash the Pokeball and we teleported to a safe distance away.

"So, how're we starting this?" I asked, losing the grin. "Range, or melee?"

"Ranged first, then melee." Crystal replied, dropping the grin as well. "Want to put on a good show?"

"You mainly just want to show off what we can do to Ash, don't you."

"Yeah, but also as a test. I want to see how you're holding up."

"Two fights in two days. Great." I groaned.

"Wait, what?" Crystal asked, surprised.

"Didn't we say? I went and had a fight with Cobalt when we were demonstrating Aura to Ash. It involved me being slammed into a tree twice, and a really powerful Counter."

"Jeez, you just keep going, don't you?" She asked rhetorically. "Here." She used Heal Pulse on me, and I smiled.

"Thanks. Now, let's rock." I teleported backwards out of range of the set of daggers that flew in, and retaliated with a Water type Judgement. Crystal promptly froze it in midair, which I'd expected. She looked unpleasantly surprised when it exploded anyway, sending a small flood and a rush of ice shards in all directions. I shielded myself, while Crystal jumped upwards and stayed suspended there until the wave had passed. ' _Show off.'_

' _Hey, you said to give a show, so why not?'_ I heard back. ' _Now, stay still so I can hit you.'_

' _No thanks!'_ I replied, dancing around a small flurry of snow and under a sword as it formed over my head. Quickly, I took the strategy I'd been using last night, charging two Rock Judgements and teleporting around. Instead of catching the first one, Crystal formed an ice blade in front of her, which split the orb in two. _Apparently, she's spent too long without fighting Judgements, and has forgotten how they work._ The one she'd split exploded, mostly going outwards but with a few hitting her. Another rock hit the second Judgement I'd fired, setting that one off too and bombarding her with rocks.

' _Jeez, what's with all the rocks?'_ She asked.

' _Nothing, it just rocks using rocks.'_ I giggled quietly at the scowl on her face, then yelped as a circle of daggers flew at me. I threw up a shield to stop them, and continued. ' _Anyway, I'm getting hungry. Shall I roast the bird, or shock it?'_ I grinned, throwing two Fire type Judgements, followed by two Electric, then a third of each in quick succession.

' _If you wanted food, you should've gone to the store!'_ She yelled, ducking under one burst of fire and blocking the electricity with a hastily made shield of ice, which splintered. Once again, she retaliated with a burst of cold air and a set of daggers, which I stopped with a Fire Judgement detonated close to me and another shield.

' _Is this going to be a thing?'_ I asked.

' _Well, there's only so much you can do at range when your main power is ice.'_ She snarked back. ' _Still, I agree. Too much of the same gets boring.'_

' _So, close combat then?'_

' _Sure.'_ We both shared another grin and teleported forward. An ice blade clashed off my Ground typed one, and she winked. ' _Though, I feel this'll put on a good show for the rest of the group.'_

' _You're having_ way _too much fun with this.'_

' _Why shouldn't I? It is only a bit of fun, and it's not like we're going to kill each other during this.'_

' _I suppose. Now, enough talking, let's get on with the fight.'_ I pushed her back and released the blade, again reusing a trick from last night. It worked well too, since Crystal was completely caught off guard when the sword exploded.

' _Really Alex? Really?'_ She shook her head, covered in mud.

' _Sorry, but it's a good strategy. Here, let me help.'_ I threw a small Water Judgement at her, which exploded and cleared it off.

' _Thanks.'_ She lunged forwards again with another blade, so I swapped to Fighting and blocked it again. ' _Say, do you still remember that thing we made up a while back?'_

' _Which, the blade dance?'_ I frowned as we clashed, keeping up the fight while we talked, and ran through it in my head. ' _Yeah, I remember that one.'_

' _What do you say we put on a_ real _show?'_ A devious grin spread across her face, closely followed by my own.

' _Sure. Both ice?'_

' _We don't want it to end too fast, do we?'_ She replied. At that, we separated again, blowing up my sword and breaking her own in the process. Forming ice blades, we ran through the movements once again.

' _Left, then you swing over and I duck, jump my blade, spin and clash, push me back, then I throw mine and form another while you dodge?'_

' _Yep. I'll keep the stream as we go.'_ At that, I started the fight by charging forwards. Crystal dodged to the left, moving away from my sword hand, and I stumbled by overextending my reach. Standing back up, she swung overarm for my head, which I dodged below as planned before swinging at her feet. She jumped and spun around clockwise, bringing the sword to the forefront, but giving me enough time to block it. We stood for a second, before Crystal nodded minutely, giving me enough time to steady myself so I didn't fall all the way down, but merely stumbled, when she pushed me back, using that force to jump away. I threw my weapon with a vicious grin, forming another while she dodged.

' _Ah, this brings back memories, doesn't it?'_

' _Yep- jump away as I lunge- we haven't done this for ages- come forwards and knock my blade away.'_ I followed the instructions flawlessly, and she continued. ' _Go to crack my head, and I'll block. Then, the shield will force the blade out of your hand, and I'll sweep you.'_ I grinned again.

' _I'm surprised we still remember it.'_

' _I wrote it down.'_ Came the reply, as she pushed the ice shield she'd formed above her. I lost my grip on my blade, and it went flying as she knocked me down. ' _Stare me down for a second, then form a new weapon and teleport behind me. Swing, and I'll come around to block.'_

' _I don't blame you, this is ridiculous to remember otherwise.'_ I said as I swung.

' _I know.'_ The blade chipped against each other as we clashed again. ' _My blade's starting to chip, so we'll need to replace it soon.'_

' _Well, what's next? We'll stop talking for now and focus on the show.'_

' _Sure. Push back, then whirl to hit my chest.'_ A clockwise spin from me, and the blade was heading directly for her torso. A thick but sudden wall of ice blocked me, and my sword was buried in the ice. ' _Now, new blade again. Get ready to block.'_ I formed a new weapon and panted, letting some of my exhaustion seep through. I felt the chill, a subtle signal from my cousin that she was ready, and I tensed and swung around, halting her blade. ' _Parry and break my grip, then throw away my sword.'_ I thrust forwards and twisted the other ice blade with my own, forcing Crystal to twist her wrist and lose the blade. I grabbed it from the air and threw it away. ' _Blade to my neck, and grin. The others can see you.'_

' _Finishing already?'_ I asked, as I put the cold blade to her neck and grinned evilly.

' _We still can't do the whole thing in one go, and I don't feel like taking a break. So yes, we are. Get ready.'_ I flew through the rest of the dance in my mind, pausing at the point we were at.

' _Ah. This is gonna hurt.'_

' _Sorry.'_ She took a deep breath, then forced my sword away with a final shield, before taking hold of it and turning it on myself. I froze, then dodged back-around-under the blade as it swung from my sudden movement, now no longer being held in place by my neck, and rushed for her, the sixth and final blade of this part of the battle dance half-formed in my hands. Crystal twisted around, having acted momentarily stunned from my movements, and crashed the full Ice Judgement into the one in my hands, which was becoming more and more solid by the second. We stood locked once again, panting from exhaustion that wasn't entirely faked. ' _Ready?'_

' _Now.'_ Suddenly, I grinned viciously, realising Crystal had aimed for us to be side by side, with the rest of the group away on my left and having full view of the finale we had planned. Crystal frowned, feigning confusion, which turned to a shocked realisation a half second later. She started dropping the blade, holding loosely onto the end, when I struck. The Judgement swords scattered around the field shattered into dust, and the two in our grips exploded, the pent up force I had been holding blowing both of us away. I focused, using what strength I had left from the dance to form a thin shield around myself and cushion my landing, and saw a small pink flicker as Crystal did the same. We landed around ten metres apart, and I groaned lowly as the bubble shield dispersed and I slowly stood. My cousin did the same, and I caught her wince as she walked forwards. I tensed, ready to continue, even though I know it was over, and neither of us had a hope of continuing even if it hadn't been.

' _Really?'_ She mused telepathically, her exhaustion as evident in her mental voice as it was in her stride.

' _Hey, this_ is _supposed to be a show. Why don't I play the part?'_

' _True enough. You really are good at this, little cousin.'_ I almost- _almost_ \- pouted at the nickname, but held myself steady as Crystal got close. It was arranged to be close enough to continue the dance in a surprise lunge, showing that the exhaustion from both fighters had been faked, but she bowed instead, signalling the end of the duel. I bowed in return, then grinned at her.

' _Well, I'd say that was impressive enough.'_

' _So would I. If we ever get to the point where we can do the full blade dance/battle, we'd have a right spectacle to give off.'_

' _Yeah, a thirty minute performance of fighting.'_

' _It's showy, it looks good,_ and _it keeps a high tension throughout. To be honest, and from an outside perspective it is like this, if I hadn't have known that I'd be blocking that blow aimed for my head, I'd be on the edge of my seat to stop our fight.'_

' _Alright. Come on, let's greet our audience.'_ I straightened from the long bow, and offered my arm in support to Crystal as we walked back towards the others. Behind us, the ice blade left on the tattered field dissolving into mist as the brick of white that had covered her eyes through the entire thing, blade dance and ranged fight, finally faded.

' _Look at Ash.'_ Crystal giggled breathlessly. I looked over, to see that Ash and the Pokemon had their jaws on the floor, and the other three were staring too, shaking their heads in disbelief.

' _Forget Ash, the lot of them look flabbergasted.'_ I pointed out.

' _I'm surprised about Cobalt, since he's seen my practising my moves before.'_ Crystal noted.

' _I guess it's just the speed of it. It was pretty intense too.'_ I argued.

' _I suppose. Now, let's say hi.'_ I put on a tired smile, and waved.

"Hey guys." I grinned. "Have fun?"

"What the hell was that?" Ash gasped. "You just… what?"

' _ **I'll admit, I've seen Crystal practising her sword fighting with herself before, but I had no idea Alex was that good as well.'**_ Cobalt said.

"Why didn't you do any of that when you fought Cobalt?"

"That was a demonstration of Aura, not a sword fight." I replied, then turned to Crystal. "You know, we should write that pattern down. With a little more on, a foggy background, have Bella make a forest on the others fire small Heal Pulses at us to keep us going, we could have a proper stage show on our hands." I winked.

"I'd say so too." She panted.

"I'll say that I'd be happy to help you two." Amy said. "That looked awesome! Give it a few more fight segments, just to make it longer, then add the effects and healing to keep you going and boom! You've got a great stage fight!" Bella shook her head.

"That was pretty awesome. Here, let me help you two out." She put a hand on each of our shoulders and used Heal Pulse.

"Thanks." I replied. "Hey Ash, did you actually do anything Aura wise, or did you just watch us?"

"I… may have been too busy trying to keep up with what you were doing." Ash blushed.

"No problem. I suggest you get on with it then." I waved, transformed, and flew over to the other side of the clearing, away from the battle ground. A smaller flicker of light followed me, and I slowed a bit to let Crystal catch up.

' _So, what do you think?'_

' _We could try and escape to one of these more often.'_ I replied. ' _Maybe we could get some more practise with the first bit done, then start revising the second?'_

' _Good idea, but we'll be coming out of it continually battered up. Unless you can find some way to make a Heal Pulse machine, we'll have to have one of the other three or Grace with us when we practise.'_ Crystal said critically.

' _I'll get on that. I'm sure there's something we can use.'_ I landed near a tree and stretched. ' _ **But man, that hurt!'**_ I complained. ' _ **I think we need to find a better way to do that last attack for the end of part one. Otherwise, we'll be battered, and the scenery will be broken too.'**_

' _ **Maybe get Leo to put up a barrier?'**_ Crystal suggested.

' _ **We could try that, but then Amy would be left doing Heal Pulse for both of us.'**_ I thought. ' _ **Well, we can deal with that another day. I have no intention of putting on that show again for a while, let alone the full version.'**_

' _ **Hey, at least the full thing isn't that long.'**_

' _ **It's a half hour long!'**_

' _ **Remember what it was like**_ **before** _ **the revisions?'**_ She cringed, and I winced.

' _ **Yeah, good point.'**_

' _ **Why did we think the thing was a decent length at two and a half hours again?'**_

' _ **We were having too much fun.'**_ I reminded her. ' _ **And we were talking lots of breaks to make sure we remembered the part, then planning the next bit.'**_

' _ **True.'**_ The small Articuno landed on a branch above me and stretched. ' _ **Well, I'd say we've got about an hour before we'll be heading back. What's the plan until then?'**_

' _ **Swap over, pass the book down and we'll take a look at the other bits.'**_ I said, switching back as well. "We've got the time to spare, after all."

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 ***One and a half vaguely explosive hours later.***

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"Alright, I think they're done." I said, warily raising the shield.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, it's not exploding, and I can't hear Cobalt anymore." I looked around. "So, I'm willing to bet that they're done."

' _Hey guys, we're finished over here!'_ Bella called telepathically. ' _Amy's going to be warping us out in a minute, so come on back.'_

"Also, that." I rolled my eyes and stood. "Come on, let's head back."

"Sure." Crystal flickered white and swapped, then cawed in laughter. ' _ **I'll see you there.'**_ She took off as I transformed, and I raced after her.

' _ **Hey, get back here!'**_ I shouted.

' _ **Nope!'**_ She yelled back. ' _ **You took off after, so you deserve to lose!'**_

' _ **That's what you think!'**_ I chuckled quietly, then teleported forwards to just in front of the bird. ' _ **Boo!'**_

' _ **Jeez!'**_ Crystal froze for a second, startled, and I charged ahead, before freezing in midair and dropping out of the sky.

' _ **Hi guys!'**_ I said, landing next to Ash. I stretched, transforming as I did, and grinned. "Everything's done then?"

"Yep." Ash replied, smiling.

' _ **Hey! That wasn't fair!'**_ Crystal cawed, landing and transforming.

"Hey, you never gave any rules, so that was fair game." I replied.

"Guys, no need to fight." Bella laughed. "Come on, let's get back, get our Pokemon healed, and get some sleep for tomorrow."

"Good plan." Leo said. "Come on Amy, let's get out of here."

"Alright, just remember to lower the gain again before we leave." We nodded, each of us doing so, then another pink flash rendered us back in the small clearing we'd left. Ash wobbled slightly next to me, and I moved my arm to stop him from falling.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem. Let's head back to the Centre, eh?"

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	30. Chapter 30

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 **Chapter 58.**

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I woke up the next morning in my normal human shape, happy I'd had the foresight to try and stay in one shape.

"Morning you two."

' _ **Morning Alex.'**_ They chorused.

' _ **Ready for the gym battle?'**_ Spark asked sleepily.

"Yep. We'll just wait for the others to wake up, then all of us can head down to the gym."

' _ **What're we doing until then?'**_

"Strategy planning." I told them. "Not going to be the most fun of activities, but it's happening anyway."

' _ **We'll stay and help.'**_ Ky offered.

"If you don't mind, I'll join you on that." I turned around to see Ash hovering in the doorway. "I'm not too well versed in Psychics, but you are."

"For obvious reasons." I agreed. "Well, come sit down and we'll get started on this."

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"...But if she uses an Alakazam, that's not gonna work." I finished, sighing.

' _ **Guys, just make up your minds! It's been thirty minutes!'**_ Spark whined.

"I _would_ , but I need to have some idea of what we could do." I told her.

' _ **Don't you guys specialise at making things up as you go?'**_ Pikachu asked. ' _ **Just do that.'**_

"Normally I would, but with Psychics it's best to plan ahead. Most can be really unpredictable."

' _ **Isn't that just more of a reason to improvise? If they do something you don't expect, then it's all the worse.'**_ I stared at him for a moment, then facepalmed.

"So stupid." I sighed, telepathically relaying the sentence to Ash.

"Yeah, maybe that's for the best." He said grudgingly. "Though, we've now wasted a half hour."

"Well, whatever." I psychically picked up the plans we'd made and through them unceremoniously into my bag. "I give up planning, and I going to get food. You coming?"

"Sure I am. I still feel a little ill from yesterday."

"Considering the amount of Aura you used when you exploded, I'm not surprised." I put my bag over my shoulder, and the two Pokemon climbed to their respective places. "Come on, let's get ready for this damn battle before I fall back asleep."

' _Don't do that Alex, or I'll have to melt some ice on your neck again.'_ Crystal said teasingly.

"One time! One time, Crystal, and you never let me hear the end of it!"

' _Well, it_ was _funny.'_ Amy replied, jumping into the conversation. ' _Anyway, come on. Bella and Leo are getting food.'_

"Good." I sighed, heading downstairs into the lobby, Ash trailing behind.

"What was that about?" He asked as we walked over to the table.

"Oh, we never did tell you this did we?" Crystal grinned "Alright so-"

"No." I said. "You guys can wait until later to tell that story. We've got a gym battle to do first, so you can wait."

"I agree." Bella and Leo said together. They blinked and looked at each other, before Leo motioned for her to continue. "Give Alex some sort of peace when it comes to this."

"Normally I'd be all for embarrassing my sister, given how few times I get to do it, but this is not one of them. That's a story for another day, if at all."

"Thanks guys." I smiled. "Now, let's hurry up and get to that battle."

"Sure, but now I'm kinda curious about what this story is." Ash replied.

"Well, I suppose I can only hope we're all too distracted later to tell it." I sighed.

' _Don't panic.'_ Bella said telepathically. ' _I'll work on that.'_

' _Thanks.'_ I replied. ' _Read the book yet?'_

' _No, but I'll start tonight after we get outta here. Going to join me?'_

' _Why not. I think we'll both feel better for it.'_

' _I guess.'_

"Ok you two, no more conversations that we aren't privy too. Let's get moving." I blinked.

"You guys finished fast."

"Well, we have more important places to be." Crystal shrugged. "Now you need to hurry up."

"Sure."

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"Also, Psychics are pretty good at reading your actions before you do them, so be careful."

"Like mind reading?"

"Some of them do, but others are just good at reading body language and working it out from the last move you've done. But that takes a lot more skill than most Psychics have, so more often than not it's scanning the surface thoughts."

"What about you guys?"

"Well, most of us consider it impolite to read another's mind without permission, but scanning surface thoughts tend to be ok, since they're related to the task at hand, like battles. I've seen tournaments that are almost entirely Psychic, since commands are relayed telepathically, which have that happen, so most folk who compete in those tend to have shields to stop the opponent reading them. It takes a lot of skill, since they keep an eye on the battle, relay commands and keep a shield up at the same time, but the battles are always pretty cool and fast paced."

"Wow. That sounds like a great thing to watch."

"We might be able to bring you along sometime." I suggested. "We'd have to be careful, since you aren't Psychic and all, but we'll relay some of the important stuff that happens to you."

"I know Alex likes the single battles." Amy said, jumping in. "But I prefer the team fights myself! There's so much to watch!"

"Team battles?"

"Yeah." I sighed. "They're… well, odd is a good word."

"Save the explanation for after Alex, we're here." Bella interrupted.

"Sure. It'll give me more time to get the diagrams ready."

"They aren't _that_ complex." Amy whined.

"Not for us, but they can be for some. More when watching, I'll be fair, but still." Crystal rolled her eyes and opened the door.

"Come on, no more arguing about battle setups, and let's focus on this battle instead."

"Mind if I go first?" Leo asked. "It'll give you a chance to prepare."

"To be honest, I was kinda hoping to go first." Ash admitted. "Just because then I can watch your battles without worrying about my own."

"Sure. Go ahead, and good luck." Leo waved him forwards, and he stood next to Amy. Leo went by Crystal, and I ended up near Bella.

"Ready?"

"Yep. How's this look compared to last year?"

"Better." She said, looking around. "I just hope nothing's happened."

' _Yeah, I don't want to repeat that.'_ Amy broadcast.

' _Repeat what?'_ I asked.

"Later, Alex. Battle time now." Bella said, stopping Amy from replying.

"Greetings challengers." A fairly young girl- well, by gym leader standards- stepped out. "I welcome you to- oh?"

"Hi Sabrina!" Amy smiled.

"Well, Amy, Bella and Crystal!" Sabrina's tone changed completely, becoming much more friendly and informal. "How are you three?"

"We're all fine, thanks." Crystal replied. "But I feel like we should be asking you that question."

"I'm fine as well. In much better state than the last time we met." She allowed. "Though, what brings you here? If I remember rightly, none of you were bothering with the gym challenge last time, and only came to help me."

"Our little sister, brother and our friend are doing the challenge, and we decided to travel with them." Bella said.

"Ah, well this will be good. Who's first?"

"Me." Ash said.

"Right. And is he…?" Sabrina asked, looking at Amy.

"No, but he knows." Amy told her. "Same for Sabrina, you guys. No need to hide."

"Well, that's convenient." I muttered.

"Yes it is." Leo replied.

"Right. Well, seeing as that isn't an issue, let's begin, shall we?"

"Sure." Ash nodded, walking over to his box.

' _Be careful with your Aura.'_ I called as we walked to the stands. He nodded in return.

"Right, a two on two sounds like what you'll have prepared for?"

"Yeah."

"Well, let's get started. Kadabra, go!"

"Lunar, come on out!"

"A Clefairy, very good. Go ahead and start."

"Disarming Voice!" Lunar let out a cry, and Kadabra teleported to get away, then used Confusion to send him flying. "Try again! More widespread!" Once again, Kadabra teleported around to avoid the attack. This small 'chase' continued for a few minutes, with Lunar getting very few hits in with Disarming Voice, and a few times with Double Slap when Kadabra teleported close enough to be hit and when the Clefairy could move fast enough to turn and hit him.

 _This isn't right._ I thought. _She hasn't called out a single move, yet Kadabra always knows exactly what to do. Is it like the boy on the boat said, and it's well trained to the point of acting alone, or…_ The real reason hit me like a lightning bolt, and I spoke to Ash. ' _Ash, she'd using telepathy to command Kadabra. Be careful about that, and try something she can't react to.'_

"Lunar! Use Metronome!"

 _That was not what I meant._ I thought sourly, as Lunar waved his hand around. He was cloaked in fire and ran at Kadabra, who was clipped by the flames before he was able to teleport.

"Keep it up!"

 _Really,_ really _not what I meant._ The Flame Charge was followed by a Dragon Tail, which smashed Kadabra into a wall. He teleported forwards and used Psybeam, then Psycho Cut. This was blocked as Metronome gave out a Thunder, which hit the blade head on but missed Kadabra, then followed up with a Bone Club, which did hit Kadabra in the face. This was luckily continued by Ash calling out a Disarming Voice, not relying on the randomness of Metronome. A few more Disarming Voices followed, and a second Psycho Cut was again stopped by Lunar using Metronome, getting Dark Void, and putting Kadabra to sleep.

"Wake Up Slap!"

' _There is a lot of luck in this match.'_ I telepathed.

' _It is kinda funny though.'_ Amy giggled. ' _I like the randomness.'_

' _Of course you would.'_ Leo sighed. ' _Didn't you have a fight with Sukima that you only used Metronome in?'_

' _Yup!'_ She replied cheerfully. ' _It was awesome!'_ I shook my head and refocused on the battle.

"Lunar, use DoubleSlap!"

' _ **Right!'**_ I blinked.

 _That's the first time he's spoke all battle._ I thought, as Kadabra fainted.

"Kadabra, return. Kirlia, come out!"

"Lunar, let's try and get something! Metronome!" This one turned out to be Shock Wave, forcing Kirlia to counter the move by scattering it with Magical Leaf before dodging with Teleport and finally finishing Lunar with Confusion. "Return. Blitz, let's fight!"

' _ **Let's go!'**_ The small Fire type roared.

' _ **A little Pokemon like you?'**_ The Kirlia said snobbishly. ' _ **You don't have a chance at beating me.'**_

"Kirlia!" Sabrina snapped.

' _ **Fine.'**_ She sighed, using Confusion.

"Ember!" The small fires blasted through the weak Psychic attack, but were caught and snuffed out by another one. "Scratch!" Blitz dashed forwards, but Kirlia simply sidestepped out of the way.

' _ **Nope.'**_ Another dodge. ' _ **Not. A. Chance.'**_ Each pause was punctuated by a step. Blitz was getting angrier with each miss, and I could see Ash was having a hard time figuring out what to do.

' _It's Fairy type too, remember. Don't rely on close combat a first, then go!'_

"Right. Blitz, Ember, then Metal Claw!"

 _Still not what I meant._ I sighed mentally, watching as Kirlia simply teleported around the field to dodge.

' _ **What did I say? You can't win. You're much too weak for that.'**_

' _ **Grrrr! I'll show you!'**_ Blitz roared, and started glowing.

' _He's evolving!'_ Bella said, the grin visible even mentally. The now golden Charmeleon growled in agreement, before using Flame Burst. Kirlia was too stunned to dodge, and was hit right on.

"Alright! Blitz, use Metal Claw!" He growled again, using Flame Burst before following the command.

' _Something seems up with Blitz.'_ Crystal said.

' _What do you mean?'_

' _He seems really enraged.'_

' _No duh.'_ I rolled my eyes. ' _He literally evolved to beat the Kirlia because she insulted him.'_

' _That's not what I mean.'_ She snarked back. ' _No, I mean, he keeps using Fire type attacks, and barely seems to be listening to Ash. Watch.'_ The entire connection went silent as we observed the battle. Even when Ash called out of him to use Metal Claw, or Scratch, or on one occasion Fire Fang, Blitz would more often use Flame Burst or Ember instead.

' _You're right.'_ Leo said.

' _I know. Any ideas?'_

' _Well, I know that some Pokemon don't listen to trainers if they don't find them worthy.'_ Bella began. ' _But I don't see any reason why that might be the case for Blitz. I mean, you guys saved his life!'_

' _Maybe that has something to do with it.'_ The others dragged their attention away from the battle and stared at me. ' _What? It could do. I'm just guessing over here.'_

"Use Flame Burst, then finish it with Metal Claw!"

' _ **Take this!'**_ He yelled, batting Kirlia across the room.

"Kirlia, return." Sabrina smiled at Ash. "Good job. Here, the Marsh Badge."

"Thanks." He returned Blitz and walked over to us. "How'd I do?"

"Great!" Amy said cheerfully. "Now the pressure's on Leo and Alex to do just as well."

"Gee, thanks." Leo replied, walking down to the field.

"I'll be back in a moment." Sabrina exited through a door on the side.

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A few minutes later, Sabrina was back.

"Sorry, I went to go and get a second set. It wouldn't do any good to test your skills with Pokemon you've already seen, would it?"

"Of course not." Leo nodded. "Right. Zephyr, let's go!"

"Sigilyph, let's fight!"

' _Telepathy?'_ I asked him.

' _Of course. If she can use it, why can't I?'_ He grinned up at us. ' _I'll be sure to include you. Now, Zeph, Gust!'_

' _ **Right away boss!'**_ He rapidly flapped his wings, causing a windstorm to batter the Sigilyph. It countered with the same, canceling out the attack.

"Telepathy, I assume?" Sabrina asked, to a nod. "I'm not surprised. Your sisters and cousin did the same the first time around. Very well done strategy by them."

"I would've thought so." ' _Zephyr, Quick Attack into Wing Attack!'_

' _ **Ok!'**_ Zephyr suddenly cut off the Gust and dropped like a stone, before spreading his wings to speed back up and hit Sigilyph from below, before he dropped again to hit it with Wing Attack.

"Whoa. He's fast!" Ash gasped.

"I think that's what Leo's relying on. He's hoping for Zephyr to be faster than Sigilyph so he can win this, but he doesn't want to overexert Zeph in the process."

' _Pretty much.'_ He responded. ' _Zeph, Twister!'_

"This is shaping up to be pretty good. Puts mine to shame."

"Heh, you've just got that, I've got this to live up to next battle, as well as yours." I remarked.

"Don't panic about that-" ' _Zeph, Quick Attack!'_ "-I'm sure you'll do fine during your fight." Ash laughed, his comment punctuated by Leo's command. "It'll probably be just as good as this."

' _Good, now use Steel Wing on the dive!'_

"I've gotta say though, Leo seems really happy to be using telepathy."

"Yeah. He felt really bad about not having told you already, and wanted to tell you as soon as we stopped properly in an enclosed area. I was the same."

"Well, thanks. Even if it wasn't your decision in the end…" We both chuckled at that.

' _Zephyr, watch out! Steel Wing and Quick Attack!'_

"What about the others?"

"Well, Amy wasn't there, so we never got her say, but I'm willing to bet she was the same. Crystal thought the less people who knew, the better, and Bella was on the fence about it."

' _Twister!'_

"Well, it's good to know the only person who hated me was Crystal." Ash sighed.

' _Hey, I didn't hate you!'_ Crystal yelled telepathically. ' _I just wasn't sure if it was safe and… oh, you were joking, weren't you?'_

"Yep. That was enough of a reaction to justify it."

' _Huh. Never pinned you for the pranking type.'_

"Well, so much has changed recently, so why not one more thing?" He shrugged.

"Well you have a point." I nodded. "After all, we've had us being hybrids, you having Aura, us being legendaries, and then the fact that me and Crystal are pretty good at sword fighting. What's one more to add to the list?"

' _Hey.'_ Crystal said to me. ' _We're only good at_ choreographed _fighting, don't make it sound like we're super talented.'_

' _I wasn't trying to.'_ I shot back. ' _But what's the point in them_ knowing _it's preplanned? Takes some of the fun out of it.'_

' _True.'_

' _Zephyr, you ok?'_

' _ **I will be.'**_

' _Right, try using Gust to blow him off path.'_ The tired Pidgeotto landed and blew up a storm, but Sigilyph pierced straight through it with Psybeam. The attack struck Zephyr head on, and he fainted. "Zephyr, return. Wildfire, it's up to you!"

' _Having to go onto Wildfire already.'_ Bella commented. ' _That might make things a little harder, if Sigilyph doesn't go down quickly.'_

' _Wildfire, Ember! Try and bring it down!'_

' _Though, if he does go down quickly, Sabrina's still got her second Pokemon, which might cause trouble too.'_ The Ember hit the Sigilyph directly, and it fell to the floor, also knocked out.

"Sigilyph, return. Mr. Mime, let's go!"

' _Great, a Mr. Mime.'_ I groaned. ' _Well, at least I'm not fighting it.'_

' _Oh, I forgot.'_ Amy grinned. ' _You're not a fan of Mr. Mime, are you?'_

"How come?"

' _Wildfire, use Flame Burst!'_

"Barrier warriors." I said simply. "They are _painful_ to fight. Leo never seems to have trouble with them, but I do."

' _Fire Fang!'_

"What tends to be the trouble?"

"I'm just not good at dealing with them. I'm not honestly sure what it is, but there's something about them that I just can't seem to fight."

' _Bite!'_

"On the other hand, Leo and the others don't seem to have the trouble with it. I can't figure out exactly _why_ , and none of them have any idea, but I just have a serious problem when it comes to fighting Mr. Mime."

' _Fire Fang!'_ Wildfire charged forwards, and we all froze our conversation to watch as Mr. Mime used Barrier to block him from hitting. ' _Jump and use Flame Burst!'_

' _ **Gotcha!'**_ He barked happily as he fired his attack.

"Leo's pretty good, isn't he?" Ash said.

"Yeah." I sat silently as Leo gave a quick stream of commands, and Wildfire followed them to hit Mr. Mime with a Bite, Flame Burst and Fire Fang in quick succession. "I think I have an idea as to why I can't fight them."

' _Oh?'_ Bella asked from the other side of Amy. ' _Let's hear it then.'_

"It's because I have trouble adjusting." I explained. "I'm not fast enough to judge what going on, so I can't manage to chain hits together well enough to actually get a hit in without being blocked."

' _That's not a bad guess.'_ Amy allowed. ' _Need some help with practise?'_

"I'd appreciate that, thanks."

' _Wildfire, Bite and Ember!'_ The small Growlithe lunged forwards and clipped his opponent on the arm as he dodged, making him flinch and leaving him vulnerable to an Ember attack, which finally knocked him out.

"And that's the end of that." Crystal smiled at Leo.

"Mr. Mime, return." Sabrina said. "Congratulations. That was a very good show of your abilities, as well as quick thinking. Now, onto the last member of our group, correct?"

"That's right." I confirmed, swapping places with Leo of the battlefield.

"Right. I'll go and get a third team, then we can begin." She left through the side door, and I took a moment to confer with the others.

' _Any last minute advice?'_

' _Don't do something stupid.'_ Bella replied.

' _Take what you've learned about her strategy from the last two battles and use it to make your own.'_ Was the message to come from Amy.

' _Be careful.'_ said Leo. ' _Sabrina's really good, and not being able to hear what her commands are can really damage any strategy you might have.'_

' _Of course, that can be used to your own advantage too.'_ Crystal continued. ' _Use the fact that you have telepathy to help you win.'_

' _And Ash says 'Remember to stay flexible. Don't stick to a routine strategy, or she'll figure it out and counter it.' Good advice.'_ Bella relayed.

' _Thanks guys.'_ I smiled back at them. Sabrina walked out of the side room at that moment, and I refocused on my match.

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"Ready to begin?"

"Of course." I smiled, taking a Pokeball from my belt. "Jade, let's begin!"

' _ **Alright! I'm ready!'**_ My little Butterfree said, floating above the field.

"Starting with a type advantage? Well, that isn't everything. Espeon, battle time!"

' _Right. Let's begin.'_ He said telepathically.

' _Ready to begin? This is a mostly telepathic battle.'_ I told her.

' _Yep. Thanks for helping us learn this.'_ She replied. I smiled; it had taken most of the first hour of our training session yesterday, but we'd managed to get both Jade and Tele talking telepathically. Tele had it easier, since he was Psychic, but we'd got it working in the end.

' _No problem. Now, start with Gust!'_

' _Ok.'_ She started rapidly beating her wings, sending a small windstorm towards Espeon. He countered it with a Swift, which tore right through the attack.

' _Swift can't be dodged, so try using Whirlwind to block!'_

' _What's next?'_ She asked, changing moves to the other air attack.

' _Spread a subtle Sleep Powder on the wind to try and put it to sleep.'_

' _Good idea.'_ Jade's wings flickered with a greenish light, which flowed onto the winds she had created. Espeon's eyes flashed, then took on a more solid purple as it used Psychic to disperse the attack. ' _What did he just do?'_

' _Not sure.'_ I closed my eyes and looked around psychically. The battleground had psychic energy scattered around the field on the Whirlwind, but four points behind Jade stood out. I tapped the power surrounding one of them, and stifled a gasp. ' _He used Future Sight! All four are behind you, so drop the Whirlwind and fly straight for him, then use Poison Powder!'_ Jade nodded, dropping the Whirlwind and flying through it with seconds to spare before all four spots exploded. Sabrina looked impressed.

"That was the psychic sight of yours, correct? A useful application in battle."

"Psych Scan, yes." I nodded. ' _Drop it now while she's distracted!'_ "But shouldn't we pay a little more attention to the battle, don't you think?" Sabrina looked back at Espeon, and gasped at the purple powder coating his fur.

' _Thanks Sabrina. One little psychic trick and you get distracted talking instead.'_

"Hey, it's not like you didn't do it before!"

' _By the way, is it cheating that we talk like this?'_

' _Nah, Sabrina does it too, unless you haven't noticed the silence on the field. The only time psychic powers are cheating in a psychic battle is reading the others minds and/or giving them headaches so they can't battle properly.'_

' _So that's why you guys were so focused on training us to battle alone.'_

' _Yep. We recently found out… stuff… about Team Rocket, and found the larger organisation had some Psychics in it. They might not always play nice, so you guys being able to fight without orders is a massive help in case we get incapacitated. By the way, dodge up and use Silver Wind.'_ Jade looked startled at the sudden change in topic, but swept around to dodge Espeon's lunge and knock him to the ground with Silver Wind.

' _You were keeping an eye on them?'_

' _Of course!'_ I replied, acting offended. ' _What do you take me for, a useless trainer?'_

' _No, but-'_

' _Psybeam!'_ I interrupted. ' _No time for arguing!'_

' _Right, I agree.'_ I watched as a purple aura took over Espeon for a moment, a sign of the poison doing it's work. ' _What now?'_

' _Well, it's slowly being weakened by poison, and from the bit of damage we've already done it'll be out soon, so… Gust!'_

' _Chip damage?'_ She asked, sending the small attack his way.

' _Hey, it'll take a while for poison to do so on it's own, so we may as well help it along a bit.'_

' _I guess. Silver Wind next?'_

' _Sure, go ahead. I reckon we're close to winning round one, and in pretty good shape for the next Pokemon too.'_

' _We can only hope.'_ She replied, sending out a wind of glittering scales.

' _Ouch!'_ Espeon yelped. ' _Why does something so pretty looking be so damn_ painful _!'_

' _I don't know, type advantages, maybe?'_ Jade snarked back.

' _Quiet Jade.'_ I whispered. ' _No need to win while being rude.'_

' _Sorry, but I couldn't help it.'_

' _Hey, at least this opponent isn't as bad as Kirlia.'_

' _What about it?'_

' _She was a really rude Pokemon. She kept insulting Blitz, until he evolved from rage. Now, use Gust instead.'_

' _Well, that's good, isn't it?'_ She asked, swapping moves as I'd instructed.

' _It would have been, if he hadn't have stopped listening to Ash properly after that had happened.'_

' _Yeah, I see your point.'_ I watched the poison take effect again and grinned.

' _Well, let's finish this one off. Silver Wind!'_

' _Getting a bit samey, aren't you?'_

' _Hey, if it works I don't see the need to get too creative.'_ I shrugged.

' _I suppose so. Though, we don't want to keep the same strategy throughout, or Sabrina will figure out a counter.'_

' _Heh, that's the exact same advice Ash gave me.'_

' _I thought you finally told him.'_

' _Yup, but more on that later.'_

"Espeon, return." Sabrina said. "I must say, this has been fun. Now, Alakazam, let's end this!"

' _Geez, don't you think this is a little over the top?'_ Jade asked me.

' _Nope.'_ I replied easily, one eye closed. ' _That isn't a super powerful Alakazam. It's about the same level as Tele. Speaking of which, I'm bringing you back.'_

' _But why?'_

' _So I have a backup plan.'_ "Jade, return." I held up both Pokeballs. "Tele, time to shine!"

' _Alright, let's go.'_ He grinned.

' _Warning, completely telepathic fight, so don't expect to be able to listen to Sabrina's commands.'_

' _I expected as much. After all, this is what you were preparing for yesterday.'_

' _Thanks. Teleport!'_ He flashed pink, disappearing from his place in front of me and reappearing behind Alakazam. ' _Psybeam!'_

' _Don't you think Jade would be better at this?'_ He asked, firing the beam.

' _She's on break after fighting the Espeon. If you go down, I'm calling her back out, but I'd like you to get as much as you can done first. Now, Teleport to dodge and Psycho Cut!'_

' _Why the Psychic moves?'_

' _It's because you don't know much else, so I need to keep_ something _on the bench.'_ I replied.

' _Well, that's fair.'_ He said, suddenly flickering away to reappear next to me. ' _What now?'_

' _Psybeam into Teleport into Energy Ball.'_ I grinned. ' _Try and leave some Psychic interference lying around. Some better Psychic can detect teleport locations from the energy in the air, so we can't let them use that to their advantage.'_

' _I suppose so.'_ I watched as an array of pinkish light was fired towards Alakazam, which was quickly jolted behind him as Tele teleported. A mass of green hit Alakazam from behind, which knocked him into the still somewhat there mass of pink from the previous Psybeam attack. ' _You're having fun, aren't you?'_

' _Naturally. It's not often I can cut loose like this, and even then I have to give commands normally, unless I choose to fight Bella, Amy or Crystal, and then I get wrecked. So yeah, I am having fun. Speaking of fun, Shadow Ball into Charge Beam.'_ I chuckled. _Man, I am_ so _glad we spent most of the training after telepathy giving these guys some new moves. It might have taken a while, but it is so worth it._

' _Thanks for the tutoring, by the way.'_ Tele said, as though reading my thoughts. ' _I must say, that Judgement of yours is very useful for helping us get used to different types.'_

' _Yeah, I love doing that. Dodge into Energy Ball into Charge Beam into Shadow Ball.'_

' _Chaining attacks a lot, aren't we?'_

' _Yeah, because it's more unpredictable. Remind me to get all of you together at some point and show you the blade dance.'_

' _Blade dance?'_

' _Please no. It hurts to much.'_ Crystal sighed.

' _Ok, I'm interested. We'll have to see that.'_

' _Not for a while though. Dodge into Charge Beam, dodge again, then Psybeam.'_

' _Two dodges?'_

' _You'll see.'_ I stood back as Tele teleported behind Alakazam, firing a Charge Beam. It was quickly blocked by a returning Focus Blast, which tore through the beam and barely scraped Tele before he jumped and teleported away. ' _Don't keep to predictable, or Sabrina can easily guess what it is we'll be doing next.'_

' _Ok, I get your point. But can you explain_ before _next time? That stung!'_

' _Where's the fun in that?'_

' _Who has time for fun when you've got a gym battle to win?'_

' _So? Even if it's an emergency- dodge into Shadow Ball- I've still got Jade in the back just in case I need to finish knocking it out- dodge again then into Charge Beam.'_

' _This is kind of fun.'_ He admitted slowly.

' _Oh, you are going to love the blade dance! Well, the first part at least- dodge and use Energy Ball, then again into Shadow Ball- since it's not quite finished yet.'_

' _What do you mean?'_

' _We did the part of it yesterday- dodge and Charge Beam- after we finished training you guys, and Crystal decided we should write it down to make into a sort of show. I agreed- dodge the Energy Ball- and we're working on making more to it.'_

' _Huh. Sounds fun.'_

' _Yeah- left and Shadow Ball- but it's painful.'_

' _Right. Do you think we should end this battle now?'_

' _Yeah.'_ I grinned at the Psychic Pokemon next to me, and then the psychic across the field. "Ready to end this?"

"I'd say so." Sabrina replied, then raised her voice. "Alakazam, Focus Blast and Psybeam!"

"Tele, Charge Beam and Energy Ball!"

' _Right!'_ Both Pokemon chorused telepathically. Both attacks were charged and released a full thirty seconds after the command was given, and collided together, knocking both Pokemon back and coating the field in a heavy layer of dust.

' _Do you want to clear it, or shall I?'_ I asked Sabrina across the field.

' _I'll get it, don't worry.'_ She replied. The dust was tinted with a slight purple light as Sabrina started to psychically shift the dust away from the center and off to the edges. I glowed too, helping to remove the dust. It floated away, quicker this time, and I gasped at what I saw.

Both Psychic types were on the ground, barely able to stand. Alakazam slowly tried to get up, but crashed back to the ground.

' _Tele?'_ I said, in the telepathic equivalent of a whisper. ' _Are you ok?'_ He groaned mentally. ' _Come on buddy, stand up. You can do it. Just get up, then we win.'_

' _We... win… anyway… right?'_ He said slowly. ' _Jade.'_

' _True. But I don't want to win by default, because I had a Pokemon left.'_ I told him fiercely. ' _I want us to win because you beat Sabrina's Alakazam.'_

' _But… there's… no point.'_ He coughed. ' _Jade… wins… anyway.'_

' _Yes, but then you don't. You succeeded, only to fall. And while there is no fear for failure, I'm sure you can win.'_ I said encouragingly. ' _So please Tele, do this for me. Let's win this together, as me and Jade and you.'_

' _Right.'_ I got the telepathic version of a smile, though maybe a grimace was more appropriate, and smiled back. Tele slowly crawled back to his feet, slumped over but still standing. He turned to me and gave a wicked grin, which faltered slightly as he forced himself to stay standing.

' _Well done my friend. Just let Sabrina call it, then we're done.'_ I looked to the psychic gym leader, who nodded slightly, just barely a tilt of her head.

"Well, it appears to me that you win. Two to nothing. Congratulations. The Marsh Badge is truly well deserved." She passed it over, and I thanked her quietly before returning Tele.

' _Thank you my friend.'_ I whispered to the ball, clipping it back on my belt. Bella teleported down to my side, and I smiled up at her.

' _Good job little sis.'_ She said.

' _Thanks.'_

"So, where is it for you guys next?" Sabrina asked. "Staying here, or continuing out?"

"I think we'll be leaving." Bella replied. "We need to pick up the pace a little, I think."

"Ok. When you finish this league run, why not come down for a visit?" Sabrina requested. "I'd be glad to have you here."

"We'll do our best." Amy said, teleporting down with Ash in tow. Two more pink flashes brought Crystal and Leo, and they turned to go. "It's nice to see you again, especially given the circumstances we first met in."

"Indeed." She agreed. "Well, good luck to you all on your journey, and I hope to see you in the league." As we all waved, I felt a small presence brush against my mind. I focused on it, and listened to the message Sabrina left. ' _I felt your conversation with your Kadabra. That's why I didn't call the match when neither of them stood. I thought you might be able to do it. My congratulations to both of you.'_

' _Thank you.'_ I sent back, smiling lightly.

"Hey Bella, you guys never said what happened at your first meeting with Sabrina." Ash remembered.

"Oh, that?" She said. "Well, pretty much, when we first got here, Sabrina was kinda obsessed with her powers and they were controlling her. We did a triple battle, like they do in Unova, and managed to break her out of it." She explained.

' _We both shifted and battled her psychically until she snapped out of it.'_ Amy added. ' _That's why she knows about us being hybrids.'_

"Huh. Would that ever happen to you guys?"

"We try and make sure it doesn't, but it most certainly could." Crystal told him as we left the city.

"Well, I _hope_ it doesn't happen." Ash grimaced, walking over to the woods next to Crystal. "I don't like the idea of having to battle you guys to snap you out of it."

"You'd likely need another Psychic anyway, so unless you can reach Sabrina or one of the others, you'd have a hard time beating us to get us to normal." Amy said sadly. "Still, we'll do our best to keep it from happening." I followed the rest of the group inwards, stopping momentarily to raise my gain back up to normal levels. It was only a few seconds later that we all, excluding Ash, froze, and looked around warily.

"What's wrong?"

' _Something's here.'_ I replied telepathically. ' _Powerful.'_

"Dangerous?" He asked, taking the hint and lowering his voice.

' _I hope not.'_ Bella said. A small cough alerted us to their presence once again, and we formed weapons in a flash of light, surrounding Ash.

"Who are you?" Crystal called, her voice like steel. "Come out, whoever you may be!"

' _By the Distortion World, this is a change.'_ A male voice floated out. ' _I've never seen you so willing to attack. Though, maybe a surprise wasn't the best idea.'_

"Damn right it wasn't." Crystal growled, lowing her ice sword. The rest of us followed, now recognising the voice. "Do you have to be so dramatic, George?"

' _No.'_ The Giratina replied, floating forwards. ' _But it was funny. I assume you've told him then, since we last met?'_ He jerked his head towards Ash.

"No, we've been keeping it a secret this whole time and you've just ruined the entire plot." I said sarcastically. "We aren't stupid, George."

' _Right.'_ He floated lower to the ground and flashed white, going back to the black haired boy I knew. "I'm George, another of the hybrids these lot are friends with. Nice to meet you properly." He held out his hand, and Ash shook it.

"Ash. But I'll assume you knew that."

"Yep. I was around the boat at the time you were, keeping an eye on you, and called Lillian and Lucas over to help you guys out. My form isn't the most aquatic."

"Well, thanks for that." Ash smiled.

"What're you doing here?" Amy asked. "You don't come here often."

"I need you guys." He said, motioning to her and Bella. "It's a long story, but we need you over at the moment."

"Why? What's wrong?" Bella asked, startled.

"Something happened and Melody's in a panic. I figured she needed friends, but I don't know where to find Lucia and Lucian on this world, so I came to you instead." It was a tribute to Bella's worry that she didn't flinch.

"What about me? Should I come too?" Crystal questioned.

"If you don't mind Crys, I'd rather you were here." Amy said. "Just to keep an eye on them." I felt a small argument commence, but Crystal sighed.

"Right. Call me if you need me, I'll be there in a flash."

"Right, ok, come quickly." George transformed again and floated up. ' _I'll wait just here.'_

"Ok." Bella called. She passed Crystal a bag from inside her bag. "Keep an eye on them, will you?"

"Sure thing. We'll be waiting."

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 **AN: Done!**

 **T: That was a workload.**

 **P: Right, while that may seem like a conclusion, it's not. This is the end of the two part anniversary chapter, and we'll be getting the epilogue up at the weekend, should everything go to plan.**

 **SV: This chapter ended up being split because it got too long. The full thing is somewhere around 13000, so we split it in half. The epilogue is really short, and just draws a conclusion. More on the continuations and that when the chapter gets uploaded. Also, sorry for the neglect the others have been facing, but I haven't been in the mood to write them and wanted to get this done.**

 **T: This brings it down to two uploads and one background fic, so that's nicer to deal with.**

 **P: Along with that announcement, we've got one more!**

 **SV: This fic has officially reached 100000 words! I didn't expect to hit that on this chapter, I thought it'd be the epilogue that did it, but hey! That's great!**

 **T: Though all things considering, I'm worried for the lengths of the other fics if this is 100000.**

 **P: Well, that'll be ok. We'll leave you off here, and see you at the weekend or so for the final final chapter!**

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	31. Chapter 31: Epilogue

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 **AN: Hey everyone!**

 **T: Sorry we're later than expected, but it's a holiday for Shadow at the moment.**

 **P: You'd think that'd mean we get more done, but we often get less. Mostly 'cause Shadow gets weirdly demotivated about three or four days in, and tends to do random shiny hunts instead of being productive.**

 **SV: Yeah, it's annoying, especially when I have other things I need to do, but don't want to. Anyway, you aren't here to see me complain, you're here for the epilogue of New Beginnings! We struggled a bit writing this, but I think it's gone fine. See you at the bottom!**

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 **Chapter 59.**

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The seven of us stood in a small clearing Bella had quickly found. Even in a panic, she'd never leave us in the open for hybrid conversations, and she'd gotten us all organised. Crystal was now holding the extra bag with all the camping equipment, which Bella had cleared out before linking the bag to one of Crystal's worlds, instead of her own. Leo and George were talking quietly, while Amy and Bella spoke with Crystal, so I walked over to Ash, hovering awkwardly at the edge of the ring.

"What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm just slightly confused, that's all." I raised an eyebrow, and he coughed. "It's just… with all this going on, and everything being so secretive…"

"It's a little overwhelming." I finished, to a nod. I stood silently for a moment, unsure how to respond, but a memory came to mind from when I was younger. "I felt the same way, actually."

"Really?" This came with a shocked tone, and I smiled. "When?"

"Back when I first came to Pallet Town. I barely had my shifting down correctly, and Leo was a little worse, but Psychic senses ran amuck. I remember being really surprised when I saw the little patterns humans gave off, and Mom had to explain that they were single coloured and faint because the people in the town weren't Psychics or hybrids. I lived in a fairly big hybrid city, so everyone I'd seen had either multi coloured patterns, or were really bright. I was really confused, since I'd seen how much Mom and Dad used Psychic abilities, or even shifted forms, on a daily basis, so I didn't quite understand how people could manage without floating things around, or being able to fly themselves about." I chuckled quietly. "I think for you it's the same thing, just backwards. You're in a similar position. While I did know what humans were, you didn't know about hybrids at all, and now you've been dropped into a set of situations where all these crazy powers get thrown about, and it's odd to think that there are tons of people who use these all the time, and can't imagine a life without them."

"I guess." He stood in a speculative silence for a minute. "You know, that's given me a lot to think about, as well as a few questions."

"Shoot." I replied.

"You mentioned a hybrid city was your home. What region's it in? I'm curious."

"It's not here. It's a bit of an explanation, but it's not in any of the regions here. We were, once, but we all moved a while back."

"Huh." He spent a moment thinking, then seemed to disregard it. "And you knew about humans already?"

"Of course." I laughed. "Humans aren't mythical creatures, you know. We hybrids might have been to you, in the years after we left, but we lived here, and wanted to remember you guys. Plus, we could reach between home and here with teleports, assuming we had the beacons and power to do so, but you guys can't, either because of the inability to teleport or lack of power. So while we faded from your memory, humans stayed a major part of ours. Hell, it's sort of because of humans, a few Aura Users and some complete idiots, that we left in the first place."

"Aura Users too?" Ash looked worried, and I caught up with what I'd said.

"Hey, it was absolutely ages ago, even by our standards, so chill out. We've no reason to be mad. You have more of one, in all honesty."

' _ **Alex, save the hybrid history lessons for another time, ok?'**_ Spark laughed. ' _ **Bella and Amy are leaving soon.'**_

"Right." I replied, thoughtlessly translating to Ash telepathically. "Come on, let's say our goodbyes." I let Spark and Kydyur climb up and walked over to the rest of the group.

"So, we'll see you guys soon." Amy grinned, as happy as ever.

"Yeah." Crystal's smile was a little forced. "Still, I wish I could come and help. Melody's always been a great friend of mine, and it feels bad that I can't come and help."

"But it's best that you stay here to keep an eye on these guys." Bella replied. "Plus, Ash needs to keep Cobalt around with him a lot, for his practising, so it's better for you to stay."

' _And hey, we can practise the blade dance without them.'_ I said cheerily to her.

"I guess." She sighed, replying to us both. "Well, say hi to her for me, and apologise for not being able to come."

"We will." Amy promised.

"Oh, take these too." Bella passed two Pokeballs over to me.

"Who's here?"

"The Pokemon we got the other day. See if you can do anything with them." She said, deliberately avoiding explaining _who_ we got them from.

"I'll do my best." I replied.

"I'll get to reading that book while we're gone. I'll try and tell you what I find out."

"Alright. Send it back when you're done, then I can read it too." I recommended.

"Good idea."

"Leo, make sure Crystal don't go completely mad trying to keep everything going, ok?" Amy requested.

"Sure. Though, I don't think she'll have too much trouble, to be honest."

"And Ash?" Bella waited until he looked over. "Good luck with them." He laughed.

"I'm sure it'll all be fine. I'll make sure not to blow anything up."

"Just be careful, and I'm sure you'll be fine." She smiled. ' _In all seriousness, I'll check the library and see if there's anything about Aura in there. If there is, I'll bring it back and see if it's any help.'_ He nodded slightly in reply, but said nothing.

"Hey, we aren't _that_ bad." Crystal replied, acting affronted.

"Sure." Amy rolled her eyes. She dropped her happy look, and waved. "Still, I guess we ought to be going. Goodbye, and we'll see you as soon as we can."

"Goodbye to you too." I said, smiling faintly. "You'll be back for the league, right?"

"Of course!" Bella replied. "We wouldn't miss it! Mom and Dad will probably come, and we'll see if we can rope Melody into coming too."

"Great. We'll be sure to wait for you." Leo said.

"Right. George, where're we off too?" Amy asked.

"I'd say drop yourselves at your house, then head over to Melody's." He recommended. "I'll stay out of the way. I'm terrible at comforting people."

"That's fine." Amy replied. "Right, let's go." She waved goodbye once more, and the three of them flashed pink, teleporting away. I felt a small whisper of telepathy from Crystal, but ignored it. We stood in silence for a minute, before Pikachu sighed.

' _ **So, what now?'**_ I wordlessly translated to Ash as Leo answered.

"Continue to the league, I guess. Fight Team Rocket, try and meet up with Lucia and Lucian again, see if we can check the truth."

"Keep up training, hope we can win, fix the shadows." Crystal continued, a sad smile flickering.

"Should we set up here, or keep going?" I asked. "We can try for some more practise if you want."

"Sure." He said, nodding. "You two ok with that?"

"Go ahead. It's not like we're on a tight schedule for beating the gyms." Leo said. Crystal nodded in agreement.

"You two can go then, and we'll get the camp set up. Do you need Cobalt?"

"I'd say so." I replied. "He's kinda needed for monitoring."

"Right, right." She unclipped the ball from her belt and threw it to me.

"Are you three coming?" I asked the Pokemon.

' _ **Sure.'**_ Pikachu nodded.

' _ **Say, if you can keep a world running, we can mess around in there.'**_ Ky recommended.

' _ **Also, you need to tell Ash's team about you guys.'**_ Spark reminded us.

"True." I thought. "We'll do that later." We started walking out of the clearing, with Spark and Pikachu bouncing around us. "After all, we can't pass off the worldlet's as Grace any more."

"After Aura practise, then?"

"Sure, assuming you're still up for a demo." He looked at me, confused, and I elaborated. "We'll need to tell them about you having Aura too, so you'll probably have to demonstrate. Just flames, I'd say."

"Right. No pressure, huh?" He chuckled.

"Of course not." I glanced around at the area. "I think we should get started, unless you want to tell them all now."

"You know, I'd like too, but I'm worried that we'll end up spending the next hour explaining, as well as them dealing with Aura."

"Well, we could try and get Cobalt to teach them, but I think he'll want to be finished with you first, before moving on."

"Alright, but we'll do it after." I nodded, releasing Cobalt.

' _ **Ready for more practising?'**_ He asked.

"Yeah." Ash sat down, and Cobalt moved to follow, but froze and cocked his head. "What's up?"

' _ **Alex, do you feel that?'**_

"What?" I closed my eyes, looking around psychically for whatever he'd felt.

' _ **A powerful Aura. One similar to what I see of you.'**_ I frowned, then gasped as a huge presence entered my vision. I reopened my eyes, looking for whatever the thing had been.

"Is that it?" Ash asked, and we turned to see what he was pointing at.

A truly immense bird flew slowly overhead, primarily red with a white crest. The feathers on its wings were tipped with green, and its tail was a bright gold. It seemed to slow even more as it passed over our heads, before a small flicker of orange-yellow flame burst from the crest on its head, coating it in a thin layer of golden flame and flying away east, towards the Johto region.

"I think it was." I replied quietly.

' _ **What was it?'**_ Pikachu asked. ' _ **It just looked like a giant bird.'**_

"Yeah. It kinda looked like Crystal as an… What was it?" He looked at me.

"Articuno." I filled in. "And it kinda was. I think."

' _ **Well?'**_

"I think… that might have been Ho-oh. I've never actually seen one, but I've heard of one that lived in Johto, a really long time ago. I think there was one in a place called Orre too, but that one disappeared about seven or eight years ago."

"A Ho-oh? Is that a legend like you guys?" I nodded. "Was it a hybrid too?"

"I don't think so. I don't know any personally, and given that Ho-oh are legendary, that'd be a huge risk to just appear. If it was a hybrid, they'd likely have taken a small shape, not like that. I think that might have been the real deal."

"A real legendary Pokemon was that close..." Ash said, in tones of wonderment, before jumping. "Er, no offence, that is."

"None taken. We aren't real legends, and couldn't be, so don't worry."

"What is one, anyway?"

"A Ho-oh?" I checked, continuing at his nod. "Ho-oh, a legendary bird of fire, and a phoenix. They're immortal, unlike most other legends which are just unaging, and can regenerate from ashes. It's the counterpart to Lugia, as the Guardian of the skies, while Lugia is the Guardian of the water. I don't know much about the Orrean one, since I only heard about it a while back, but supposedly the Johto one has been flying the world for the last hundred or so years, since the Brass Tower burnt down. It's rumored to be searching the world for someone with a pure heart. When it does, it'll return to the Tin Tower, and will come to the call of those with a pure heart, should true danger fall upon them."

"Wow. That sounds awesome. Think it was us?"

"Not likely. I'm pretty sure I'm about the furthest thing from pure hearted, though I can't speak for you. I'd say it was just luck that we saw it."

"Right. What's the difference between unaging and immortal, anyway? I thought it was the same thing."

"Pretty much, but immortal means you can't die from just about anything, while unaging means you can be killed, but you'll live forever otherwise."

"Huh." He thought for a few moments. "Well, let's get to work, I suppose."

"Sure thing. We can worry about everything another time. For now though, we've got ourselves a new beginning to look forward too." We laughed, before Cobalt sat down and the two of them started Aura training once again, and the others sat down in a tree.

 _This hasn't been so bad._ I thought, swapping over and flying next to them. _I'd never have expected this outcome to telling Ash about us, but it's certainly best. Let's just hope it continues._

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 **AN: And let's hope the same goes for this.**

 **P: So that's the end of New Beginnings, huh.**

 **T: Well, this part at least. There's more to come.**

 **Kiritox: *Walking in.* I'd say so. It's been great watching you guys work on this.**

 **DarknessLegends: *Walking in behind.* Yes, indeed, indubitably.**

 **SV: Very funny. *Sighs.***

 **K: What's up with you? Shouldn't you be happy that this is over? It cuts the workload down to two.**

 **T: *Quietly.* And the rest.**

 **DL: Yeah, and you need to help me with One Last Chance because my creativity levels are at an alltime low and that's saying something.**

 **I: *Walks in with a mariachi band* Am I late?!**

 **DL: Nearly. And why did you bring a mariachi band?**

 **I: Because it's a celebration. And mariachi bands are awesome.**

 **K: Who is this, anyway?**

 **DL: Oh, this is Ifrit, my Charmeleon. He's kinda like Pix and Trix are for you guys.**

 **SV: Really, the band isn't necessary. This is just the end of one part, it's not that big a deal.**

 **K: Ok, what's got you down? This isn't like you.**

 **T: *Surprised.* Wait, did we never tell you?**

 **P: I guess we forgot. This fic has been in development for nearly four years now, and the idea came long before that. Trust me, the end of part one is a huge development for her.**

 **SV: Yeah. But hey, there's still much more to come. So, I'd like to thank you all for reading and sticking through with me this last year, and I hope that you'll all stay around for the rest of this long journey through the regions until the end. Enjoy reading the other stories I post on here, go and say hi to my brother DarknessLegends, since I work with him on some of his stuff, and myself, Trixie and Pixie will see you all back here for the second story of New Beginnings and the team. Have a good Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas should you celebrate them, and we'll be back around New Years, for the second arc. Bye to all!**

 **/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**


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